What can be done to restore ecosystems and protect biodiversity in the EU, where more than 80% of habitats are now in a bad or poor conservation status?

Amid a planet-wide biodiversity crisis, the European Commission has proposed the Nature Restoration Law to address the decline of nature on the continent. The proposed law aims to restore at least 20% of EU land and sea by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

According to the draft law, EU countries would need to submit National Restoration Plans to show how they plan to deliver against the targets. Jointly, these country plans would restore ecosystem services beneficial to human society across the EU and aid the recovery of sensitive habitats like peatlands, grasslands, dunes and wetlands.

With the proposal now on the negotiating table, the conversation about how to address nature’s decline is heating up. As the European Commission, EU member states and European Parliament debate the specifics, some economic actors are actively lining up against the plan.

On 28 June 2023, participants joined webinar hosts Ricarda Faber and Aaron Best from Ecologic Institute and their two expert guests: Humberto Delgado Rosa (Director for Biodiversity at the European Commission) and Sabien Leemans (Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer for WWF). Together, they discussed what can be done to restore ecosystems and protect biodiversity in the EU, as well as the new Nature Restoration Law proposed by the European Commission.

The webinar is part of a new webinar series for young people in Europe that Ecologic Institute kick-started in 2022.

We have already produced a podcast episode on the same topic – Nature Restoration Law: restoring Europe's ecosystems & protecting biodiversity –  that you can listen online. The related podcast series "Green Deal – Big Deal?" is available online and on all relevant streaming platforms: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Deezer | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | YouTube.

Below, you can watch the video recordings of Humberto Delgado Rosa and Sabien Leemans's presentations. Their videos are also available on the project website.

Video recordings from the webinar