The EU bolsters nature restoration: here is the new legislative framework for 2030 and 2050

With the aim of laying down a set of EU-wide nature restoration targets after acknowledging that they cannot be fulfilled to a sufficient extent by member states individually, the European Union (UE) approved Regulation 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and of the Council on nature restoration and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/869, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) on July 29.

In article 1 the regulation lays down a number of rules to contribute to:

• the long-term and sustained recovery of biodiverse and resilient ecosystems in all the land and sea areas of the member states through the restoration of degraded ecosystems;
• achieving the Union’s overarching objectives concerning climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and land degradation neutrality;
• enhancing food security; and
• meeting the Union’s international commitments.

In this context, the regulation establishes a framework within which member states put in place effective measures aimed at fulfilling EU-wide restoration targets, covering at least 20% of land areas and at least 20% of sea areas within its scope by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. The regulation applies only to the ecosystems mentioned above that are in the European territory of the member states to which the treaties apply, as well as to the coastal waters, their seabed or subsoil (article 2).

As determined in the regulation, the restoration obligation includes the terrestrial, coastal and freshwater ecosystems (article 4); marine ecosystems (article 5); urban ecosystems (article 8); the natural connectivity of rivers and natural functions of the related floodplains (article 9); pollinator populations (article 10); agricultural ecosystems (article 11); and forest ecosystems (article 12). In article 13 the regulation also imposes on member states the obligation to contribute to the planting of 3 billion trees throughout the Union by 2030.

To ensure that the targets it contains are fulfilled, the regulation requires each member state to prepare a national restoration plan, to identify the measures that are necessary to fulfill the obligations and achieve the objectives set out in the regulation (article 14).

The member states’ national restoration plans have to cover a period running up to 2050 and the required contents include, among other elements (article 15):

• The quantification of the areas to be restored.
• A description of the restoration measures planned.
• A description of the contribution to the commitment to plant 3 billion trees by 2030.
• The timing for putting in place the restoration measures.
• The monitoring of the areas subject to restoration, the process for assessing the effectiveness of the measures and for revising those measures where needed to ensure that the targets are met and the obligations are fulfilled.
• The estimated co-benefits for climate change mitigation and land degradation neutrality associated with the restoration measures over time.
• The foreseeable socio-economic impacts and estimated benefits of the implementation of the restoration measures.
• The estimated financing needs for the implementation of the restoration measures (which include a description of the support to stakeholders affected by restoration measures), as well as the intended means of public or private financing, including financing or co-financing with Union funding instruments.
• An overview of the interplay between the measures included in the national restoration plan and the national CAP strategic plan.

The time limit for each member state to submit the draft national restoration to the Commission is September 1, 2026 (article 16), and the Commission will assess and make observations on the draft within six months from the date of its receipt (article 17).

After receiving the Commission's observations, the member state must take them into account in its final national restoration plan, which must be published and submitted to the Commission within six months from the date of receipt of its observations (article 17).

Each member state must review and revise its national restoration plan, and include supplementary measures, as required according to progress made in the implementation of the plans, the best available scientific evidence as well as available knowledge of changes or expected changes in environmental conditions due to climate change. This must be done by the time limits given in article 19, namely by June 30, 2032 and subsequently by June 30, 2042. And at least once every ten years thereafter, each member state must review its national restoration plan and, if necessary, include any supplementary measures it considers to be needed.

The regulation also contains an obligation for member states to report to the European Commission certain elements of the progress observed in implementing the national restoration plan (article 21).