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Eight countries withdrew their support for an environmental standard in the European Union (EU) with only the last formal vote in the European Council remaining and little time left for negotiations before parliamentary elections in June. The proposal is aimed at restoring up to 90% of the most degraded habitats by 2050 and is one of the most ambitious environmental commitments of the block.
The green agenda of the European Union suffers a new setback. Although the vote on Monday, March 25 in the European Council was a simple formality to approve the Nature Restoration Law; In the end the decision was postponed. Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy opposed it. Austria, Belgium, Finland and Poland had announced their abstention. Even so, the rule was still alive by having the necessary majority. However, the situation changed when Hungary modified its position and tipped the balance towards rejection.
That left the proposal in political limbo. There is little time left for the European Parliament elections in June and that means that the future of the legislation is at risk due to the impossibility of renegotiating it.
Since its inception in 2022, this law has been highly disputed. On the one hand, it would be a unique standard of its kind as it would apply to the entire European Union with the aim of restoring at least 20% of land and maritime ecosystems by 2030.
To achieve this, a first goal is set to restore 30% of the habitats that are most degraded, such as wetlands, grasslands, forests, seagrass beds and corals. This prioritizes places listed in Natura 2000, the world's largest network dedicated to protected areas. The idea is to increase this protection to 60% by 2040 and to at least 90% of the most degraded by 2050. The law is part of the EU's 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and the Green Deal.
However, the European People's Party (EPP), the largest parliamentary party, has been the main opposition. It alleges that protecting ecosystems would reduce food production and, thereby, affect farmers and fishermen.
In fact, Hungary was convinced by that argument and based its negative vote on the fact that the rules should be dictated in each country and not for the entire bloc. “In the big political context, a lot of things happened and we were convinced that, for the sake of subsidiarity and sovereignty, if we connect it with food security, it is very important to maintain flexibility for the Member States,” explained Anikó Raisz, the Secretary of State for the Environment of Hungary.
Paradoxically, Ursula von der Leyen is from the European People's Party and it was the European Commission that she leads that proposed the draft of the standard since June 2022. This body, contrary to what the EPP argues, affirms that restoring ecosystems would bring benefits for 1.86 trillion euros between now and 2050. This is what the study by Impact evaluation of the commission.
With this same idea, several of the largest companies in Europe support the initiative. In July 2023, more than 80 companies They published a letter in which they asked the EU to approve the law. Companies such as Danone, H&M, IKEA, Nestlé and Unilever say that it is inaction that will truly put the economy at risk and that restoring nature is essential to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Even so, the legal process has not been easy for the norm. In June of last year, the law almost collapsed when The Environmental Committee of Parliament did not carry it forward with 44 in favor and 44 against. The full Parliament revived it 15 days later with 336 favorable and 300 unfavorable.
In November of that year, the European Council and Parliament managed to reach an agreement and provisionally approved the standard. With that, Parliament gave its final approval in February 2024 and all that was missing was the almost formal process by the Council for it to be published as a law and begin to come into force. But it was there where Hungary's vote left the norm in suspense, once again. All in the midst of the farmers' protests that have put the green agenda of the bloc of 27 on the ropes.
Long before the vote, The European Environment Agency clarified that around 80% of EU habitats have a “bad” or “fair” conservation status. And only 15% are in “good” condition. A scientific argument that supports the need for the Nature Restoration Law. Although the norm remains stuck in political decisions.
Indigenous people of Brazil ask the EU to expand its restriction on products in deforested areas
The discussion about nature is not the only loophole in environmental standards that the European Union is discussing. As part of the Green Deal, starting in December 2024, the bloc will prohibit the import of products that have been planted in areas that have been deforested since 2020.
This applies to forests such as the Brazilian Amazon and leaves out everything that is produced in the savannah known as El Cerrado, which also includes parts of Paraguay and Bolivia.
The concern is such that indigenous Brazilians traveled to Brussels to ask that this area be included within their restrictions. Eliane Xunakalo, president of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Mato Grosso, told the AFP agency that this would allow for greater traceability and supervision. “It is knowing where soy comes from and reducing the impacts it has on my home, because the Cerrado is my home,” she added.
Although the Cerrado is not as popular as the Amazon, it is the most biodiverse savanna in the world. 5% of the animals and plants on the entire planet live there, according to WWF.
But soybean crops and beef production have devoured half of the native vegetation in this ecosystem. Although a large part of these products reach the European Union, it is not the largest buyer. China made Brazil its main supplier of corn and soybeans above the United States.
Consequently, the export of Brazilian soybeans to Chinese territory continues to increase without stopping. In 2023 it rose 25% compared to 2022. Therefore, a ban from the European bloc does not mean completely stopping production in El Cerrado. But the indigenous people do defend the bloc's decision as a matter of survival.
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