Tuesday (1 September) marks the deadline for EU countries to submit their draft national restoration plans under the EU Nature Restoration Law, a key part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. So far, only six countries have done so, according to an internal European Commission database.
The law aims to build resilience to future threats like forest fires, food insecurity or disease outbreaks, but also to restore degraded ecosystems. But beyond environmental objectives, nature restoration is also an economic challenge.
Costs of inaction are visible by the year, and this time around, it has been through successive heatwaves, droughts and forest fires impossible to ignore.
“Europe doesn’t need more box-ticking,” said the #RestoreNature coalition in a statement.
France and Spain have had their biggest losses yet. As of 1 September, 643,085 hectares have burnt since the start of the year.
Beyond the wildfires, EU countries faced relentless heatwaves that strained national healthcare systems, resulting in more than 35,000 excess deaths across Europe, according to the Guardian.
With Europe facing increasing challenges linked to climate disruption, environmental groups are urging governments to make changes.
“Governments must deliver strong and properly resourced plans that scale up the restoration to increase Europe’s resilience,” said #RestoreNature.
“The risks around us are changing. They are becoming more frequent, more complex and more severe” said EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a statement following a visit to the emergency response coordination centre.