The European Union’s nature restoration law, which had set out to restore 20% of land and sea areas in the EU by 2030, has now been postponed indefinitely after a vote to pass the bill on Monday was canceled.The nature restoration law was initially proposed in June 2022 and has spent the last several months going through the legal approval process in the EU. But following protests by farmers and a withdrawal of support from Hungary, the EU canceled the vote. “It seems that we don’t have a qualified majority anymore because… Hungary has changed its vote. We have to understand why they do that,” said Alain Maron, a regional climate minister for Belgium, as reported by The Associated Press.The European Commission had already previously weakened environmental regulations, including the proposed nature restoration law, because of the protests. Laws on sustainable farm practices, such as crop rotation and reduced use of pesticides, have been weakened or scrapped altogether, The Associated Press reported earlier this month.“The agricultural sector is a very important sector, not only in Hungary, but everywhere in Europe,” said Anikó Raisz, Minister of State for Environmental Policy and Circular Economy of Hungary, as reported by Reuters.The decision to cancel the vote to pass the nature restoration law also comes ahead of elections for the European Parliament that are to take place this June.
Source: EU Nature Restoration Plan Postponed Indefinitely – EcoWatch
