Green Party MEPs Grace O’Sullivan and Ciarán Cuffe said they are “disappointed” with delays to a vote on the nature restoration law in Brussels on Thursday.
MEPs in the European Parliament’s environment committee hit deadlock on the new law and ran out of time to finalise their voting on amendments.
The new date for the vote on the law in the environment committee will be 27 June.
On the delays, O’Sullivan said: “Many politicians continue to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the immediate need for action on climate change and biodiversity loss.”
She highlighted that supporting and implementing the nature restoration law was a direct recommendation of Ireland’s recent Citizens’ Assembly on biodiversity loss, arguing “you cannot get a more robust and democratic endorsement for legislation than that”.
Reliance
Also criticising the delays in Brussels, Ciarán Cuffe MEP warned that “climate and biodiversity are “two sides of the same coin” and insisted that “we must tackle them both together”.
Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan. / Eric Vidal
“We rely on strong ecosystems for food production and to absorb carbon or mitigate heat to keep emissions down and protect against drought and other natural disasters.
“For the sake of everyone living in Europe, I urge my Irish colleagues to show leadership and lobby their groups to support this vital law the next time this comes before the European Parliament,” he said.
Vote
The Green Party duo in Europe pointed blame at what they described as the “conservative” EPP group of MEPs in the environment committee for opposing the law as it stands.
Fine Gael MEPs are members of the EPP, the largest political grouping in the European Parliament.
Climate and biodiversity are two sides of the same coin, Ciarán Cuffe MEP said. \ Clive Wasson
Cuffe and O’Sullivan said the new law “proposes to restore at least 20% of all EU land and sea areas to favourable status by 2030 with specific targets for various ecosystems”.
“The proposal had come under fire from conservative MEPs who tabled an amendment to reject the proposal outright, while MEPs from the Greens and Socialists said it was one the EU’s last hopes to halt biodiversity loss and save European agriculture,” they explained.
Read more
European Parliament split on rejecting nature restoration law
Committee vote on nature restoration law pushed back
Green Party MEPs Grace O’Sullivan and Ciarán Cuffe said they are “disappointed” with delays to a vote on the nature restoration law in Brussels on Thursday.
MEPs in the European Parliament’s environment committee hit deadlock on the new law and ran out of time to finalise their voting on amendments.
The new date for the vote on the law in the environment committee will be 27 June.
On the delays, O’Sullivan said: “Many politicians continue to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to the immediate need for action on climate change and biodiversity loss.”
She highlighted that supporting and implementing the nature restoration law was a direct recommendation of Ireland’s recent Citizens’ Assembly on biodiversity loss, arguing “you cannot get a more robust and democratic endorsement for legislation than that”.
Reliance
Also criticising the delays in Brussels, Ciarán Cuffe MEP warned that “climate and biodiversity are “two sides of the same coin” and insisted that “we must tackle them both together”.
Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan. / Eric Vidal
“We rely on strong ecosystems for food production and to absorb carbon or mitigate heat to keep emissions down and protect against drought and other natural disasters.
“For the sake of everyone living in Europe, I urge my Irish colleagues to show leadership and lobby their groups to support this vital law the next time this comes before the European Parliament,” he said.
Vote
The Green Party duo in Europe pointed blame at what they described as the “conservative” EPP group of MEPs in the environment committee for opposing the law as it stands.
Fine Gael MEPs are members of the EPP, the largest political grouping in the European Parliament.
Climate and biodiversity are two sides of the same coin, Ciarán Cuffe MEP said. \ Clive Wasson
Cuffe and O’Sullivan said the new law “proposes to restore at least 20% of all EU land and sea areas to favourable status by 2030 with specific targets for various ecosystems”.
“The proposal had come under fire from conservative MEPs who tabled an amendment to reject the proposal outright, while MEPs from the Greens and Socialists said it was one the EU’s last hopes to halt biodiversity loss and save European agriculture,” they explained.
Read more
European Parliament split on rejecting nature restoration law
Committee vote on nature restoration law pushed back
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