The European Green Party is satisfied that the European Parliament has voted to pass the much-needed Nature Restoration Law after weeks of attacks of the European People’s Party.
European Green Party Co-Chairs Thomas Waitz and Mélanie Vogel say: "we have to restore nature to protect ourselves from the floods and droughts that come with the climate change. Plants and trees are necessary to keep the water on the land. Trees in the city centres are crucial to prevent people suffering from heat".
"The vote of the Nature Restoration Law is a victory. Nevertheless, the political thriller - with a stalemate in the Environmental Committee - of the last weeks is also a warning sign that there are political forces in the European People's Party that collaborate with the Far Right to destroy the nature and climate policy both on national and European levels", Vogel and Waitz add.
The Nature Restoration Law passed the European Council with a narrow margin. The governments of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Italy and Poland were against it. But fortunately, most countries were in favour.
"This shows that every citizen has a vote and a voice that counts, in upcoming elections in Spain, the Netherlands this year, and in the entire EU elections next year. Without the mobilisation of climate activists, NGOs, media, the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament and thousands of citizens, this essential piece of the Green Deal might have been killed in silence".
"This kind of mobilisation on national and European level might also be necessary for the new Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products which will be on the table of the European Parliament and the European Council", Waitz and Vogel conclude.
