Climate activists and farmers' groups gathered around the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday morning ahead of the debate on the heavily disputed nature restoration law.
After months of roadblocks and political infighting, the European Commission's key biodiversity legislation will be put to a vote on Wednesday in the plenary of the European Parliament. Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans has stated that the future of all EU climate legislation hangs in the balance with this vote.
After the nature restoration law failed to pass in the Parliament's committee votes and was the first Green Deal legislation to be rejected in the Environment Committee, Wednesday's plenary vote will be tense. The most recent vote in the Environment Committee struck down the law because of a 44 to 44 tie.
Opposition to the law that aims to restore Europe's damaged habitats has been fierce on the political right, with the European People's Party (EPP) leading the way to polarize the issue. Most recently, the group has run a communication campaign claiming the proposed law would destroy "Santa Claus' city" in Finland.
So far no clear majority or opposition has emerged ahead of the vote, especially as some EPP members may break ranks to support the legislation. Liberal and Green MEPs have accused the EPP chief of blackmailing his party members to oppose the law in the committee votes.
"If we can’t get agreement on nature restoration we’re also in trouble with our emissions reduction goals because much of what we want to do hinges on nature providing the solution," Timmermans told Euractiv.
Rivaling sides
A convoy of tractors rolled into Strasbourg on Tuesday to oppose the nature restoration law. Agriculture groups claim that the propositions to recover damaged habitats and encourage land with high biodiversity would diminish agricultural space.
But their concerns come into conflict with climate activists, who stress that the bill is critical to save the EU's ecosystems and provide a robust barrier to climate breakdown. Activist Greta Thunberg joined the protest and urged decision-makers to vote for nature.
"[Politicians] had many, many opportunities to match their actions with their words. And they have failed many, many times. We hope that this time it will be different," Thunberg told Le Soir.
"Be on the right side of history. History will judge you very harshly if you choose to remain on the side of destruction and the big lobbies, instead of choosing the side of nature and human beings," the young figurehead for climate activism stressed.
Farmers organizations & green activists protested in front of European Parliament this morning. A last minute push to influence the crucial vote on the nature restoration regulation. pic.twitter.com/8biwhnIvMa
— Louise Guillot (@l_guillot) July 11, 2023
But farmers' groups have the support of the EPP, the bloc's biggest political group. The group's efforts to discredit the nature restoration law have been criticised by experts, activists and other business actors who refute their claims. 3,000 scientists signed a letter denying that the restoration proposal would hurt agriculture; they signalled "deep concern" regarding the debate around the law, stressing that arguments made against it lack scientific basis.
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A consortium of corporate giants, including Ikea, Nestle and Unilever also put out a statement of support for the nature restoration law.
More recently they were joined by European religious leaders. Representatives from the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Church, the Centre for Applied Buddhism and others, called on decision-makers to support the nature restoration law.
