Timmermans: EU climate goals ‘hinge on’ success of nature restoration law

By Natasha Foote | EURACTIV.com

10-07-2023 (updated: 11-07-2023 )

News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Frans Timmermans, with Belgian farmers Ferdinand and Christophe Jolly, from left to right [European Union, 2023]

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It will be ‘almost impossible’ to reach the EU’s climate goals without the nature restoration law, Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said ahead of a key European Parliament vote that will decide the fate of the contentious law.

“All the other proposals hinge on the adoption of the nature restoration law,” the EU Green Deal chief told journalists during a press trip on Thursday (6 July).

He explained that the law has the same role on the biodiversity side of Europe’s green transition as the historic climate law, which set a binding target to reduce net EU emissions by 55% by 2030, has on the emissions side.

The nature restoration law, proposed in June 2022, aims to reverse the drastic decline of Europe’s nature and is a foundational pillar of the EU’s Green Deal.

However, after staunch opposition from right-wing parties, particularly the European People’s Party (EPP), the fate of the law hangs in the balance as the European Parliament gears up for a decisive vote during the plenary session on Wednesday (12 July).

With no obvious majority to support it, but equally no clear majority to vote it down, it is touch and go as to whether the Parliament will give its blessing.

Rejecting the law would have dire consequences, according to Timmermans.

“If we can’t get agreement on nature restoration, we’re also in trouble with our emissions reduction goals, because much of what we want to do hinges on nature providing the solution,” he added.

The vice president, who is in charge of delivering the EU’s Green Deal, stressed the importance of nature-based solutions and pointed out that unhealthy soils and forests are unable to absorb carbon dioxide.

“So to restore nature is not just a value per se in itself for biodiversity, which should be enough to convince people, but it’s also essential to reach our emission reduction goals for 2030 and 2050,” he said.

Alongside this, he pointed out that the EU has a legal obligation to increase the amount of carbon captured by its nature under the land use and forestry law. This set a target for 310 million tonnes of CO2 to be stored in Europe’s nature by 2030, requiring a major turnaround for EU sinks.

“No nature restoration will make it almost impossible to reach our climate goals,” Timmermans reiterated.

Europe’s law to restore nature is in the balance, following a vote in the European Parliament’s environment committee on Tuesday (27 June) that opened up the possibility for it to be definitively rejected by lawmakers during a whole Parliament vote in July.

Lamenting the fact that discussions around nature and climate laws have “turned tribal”, Timmermans expressed fears over the future direction of the political centre and the consequences this will have on European decision making.

“[Climate denial and scepticism] was something on the fringes of politics. Now, if the centre right moves in that direction, then I think we are going to be in trouble,” he said.

He added that you always need support from the centre to get laws through, saying he hoped the centre “will hold” in future elections.

“To get things done, you need a majority, and that majority will always be in the middle. So I really hope that the centre right understands that, if they look for majorities to the right of them, those majorities will be destructive, not constructive,” he warned.

The need for strong climate policy is not just for Europe’s nature, but is also required to maintain the ambitious stance the EU is setting on the international stage.

For instance, the EU signed up to an international agreement to protect 30% of its land and seas by 2030 at a global biodiversity conference last year and is seeking to drive further ambition at the COP 28 climate summit in Dubai.

The EU “cannot afford” to step back on the issue of climate change, said the Vice President, who has just returned from a trip to China. He also highlighted the importance of “teaming up” with the US and China on global climate goals.

“We can only do that if we speak with one voice,” he added.

[Edited by Kira Taylor / Gerardo Fortuna]

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