Restoring Europe’s nature – NGO position paper

The EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy includes a commitment from the European Commission to put forward a proposal for legally binding EU nature restoration targets in 2021 to restore degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters. The legally binding restoration targets will require a new legal instrument and present a major opportunity for turning the tide against biodiversity loss while also contributing to climate mitigation and adaptation.

In this paper, the broad coalition of NGOs, including  the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), present recommendations on key elements of the restoration law, focusing on the objectives, targets, criteria, measures, governance and finance aspects of the new law.