Foreign
THE European Commission on Wednesday announced a legislative package to renew Europe’s collapsing ecosystems and restore biodiversity to save wildlife, plant life and insects under threat of mass extinction by 2050.
“The climate and biodiversity crises are threatening the very foundation of our life on Earth.
“We humans depend on nature. For the air we breathe, for the water we drink, for the food we eat for life.
“Our economy also runs on nature,’’ EU Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans said in a statement.
A total of 80 per cent of protected habitats in the EU were currently in poor condition, according to the commission.
Under the proposals, EU countries would be required to meet binding targets to restore different damaged ecosystems so that wildlife can thrive and emissions were reduced.
Restoration measures were to include, amongst others, halting the decline of pollinator populations, such as bees, by 2030, removing river barriers, restoring marine habitats and rewetting drained peatlands so they can absorb carbon instead of emitting it.
The commission also wanted to slash the use of pesticides in the European Union by 50 per cent by 2030.
The need to restore nature should not be neglected in view of the consequences of the war in Ukraine, Timmermans said at a news conference in Brussels, because healthy ecosystems are a guarantee for food security.
The new proposals would be submitted to the 27 EU member states and the European Parliament, all of which must agree before new legislation can be adopted. (dpa/NAN)
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Tags: EU Frans Timmermans
