The outgoing European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevicius has said that attention must now turn to the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL).
The controversial law was adopted by the Council of the EU yesterday (Monday, June 17), meaning the regulation will now become law throughout the EU.
The NRL aims to put measures in place to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems “in need of restoration” by 2050.
NRL
In a press conference following the outcome of the vote, Commissioner Sinkevicius said that it “was truly a good day”.
“As you know, this has been a long journey. As we are in the Euros now, we played some extra times even so if we did not want to. But I think that at the end of the day we have managed to win.
“I hope that political, ideological battles are over now. And we will move on into the implementation of this landmark agreement by working closely together with the member states,” he said.
Commissioner Sinkevicius said that the NRL is “supported by citizens, scientists, non-governmental organisation (NGOs), industry, the financial sector, and many other stakeholders”.
“This is a law that will also confirm to our international partners our very clear signal that the EU is serious about its international commitments on biodiversity, and will hopefully inspire others to follow,” he added.
Funding
Meanwhile, an independent TD has said that funding for farmers should have been put in place prior to an agreement being reached on the Nature Restoration Law.
Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin said that there is no dedicated fund at European level to support farmers to comply with the legislation.
“It is not good enough that we have ministers telling us funding will be found in the next EU budget.
“Nobody knows what will be in the next budget, except that there will be more money allocated for defence and security, those will be the big preoccupations at EU level for the foreseeable future,” she said.
The TD added that any national fund for nature restoration must be ring fenced and “not lumped in with other climate change mitigation measures”.
“We need guarantees from the government on this, not just some wishy-washy commitment about being included in a package that will also include electric car charging points, retrofitting and the like, all important things but we need a separate dedicated fund for farmers,” she said.
Deputy Harkin also said that guarantees should have been secured to ensure lands impacted by the law would continue to be eligible for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding.
“The new CAP negotiations are just about to begin and one of the most important issues to be discussed will be land eligibility.
“We will be fighting that battle for the next five to six years when we should have nailed down some of the detail before legislation was agreed,” she said.
The TD raised concerns about the impact on agricultural practices, in particular suckler cow systems, in areas where drained lands are rewetted after 2030.
“There are some very positive aspects to this legislation, but insufficient care was taken in working out some of the detail and the implications for agricultural production in vast parts of Ireland and for farm families and the communities they live in,” Deputy Harkin said.
The government has said any measures undertaken by farmers will be on a voluntary basis and that the use of State lands between now and 2030 will ensure Ireland is compliant with the law.