Blue NGOs have urged MEPs to “listen to citizens and scientists” and uphold the European Commission’s ambitions on protecting nature and biodiversity, following the European Parliament fisheries and agriculture committees’ votes this week against the EU’s Nature Restoration Law (NRL). Ahead of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), the lead committee on this file, voting on the NRL on 15 June, NGOs have highlighted the importance of adopting legally binding rules to restore damaged marine ecosystems, reverse biodiversity loss, and secure long-term prosperity for coastal communities. They have pointed to pushback from members of conservative and liberal groups in the European Parliament, such as the European Conservative Reformists. Swann Bommier, Advocacy Officer at BLOOM, said: “By rejecting the NRL, the far-right, conservative and liberal groups testified to their sheer denial of the climate emergency and biodiversity collapse we are confronted with. It is madness to witness MEPs put the future of humanity and of the biosphere at risk to accommodate the greed of a handful of industrial lobbyists determined to make a profit […] until there is nothing left to protect. It is now up to the ENVI Committee to rise to the occasion and show it can act responsibly to protect our ocean, coastal fishers, our climate, and our environment.”
‼️Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present: A list of MEPs who tried to bury the #nature restoration law.
Most of the publicly advocate for #environmental protection by the way. #RestoreNature all right, they say, just not now.
But then when? We are running out of time! 1/ pic.twitter.com/DAUjYqtJg1
— Sarah Wiener (@wienerofficial) May 26, 2023
