{"id":51772,"date":"2024-06-20T10:45:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T09:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=51772"},"modified":"2024-06-21T12:29:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T11:29:57","slug":"despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite dilution, officials say new nature law can restore EU carbon sinks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A razor-thin vote in favour of the EU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/data.consilium.europa.eu\/doc\/document\/PE-74-2023-INIT\/en\/pdf\">nature restoration law<\/a> on Monday has salvaged the bloc\u2019s ability to restore its carbon sinks and reach its net zero goal, top officials told Climate Home.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The regulation, which tasks the EU\u2019s 27 member states with reviving their land and water habitats and planting billions of trees, was narrowly passed by EU environment ministers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The controversial law only gained enough backing because Austria\u2019s minister for climate action, Leonore Gewessler, defied her country\u2019s leader and voted in favour of it, a decision which may be <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/austrian-ruling-coalition-will-limp-after-clash-over-eu-nature-law-2024-06-17\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">challenged legally<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, while celebrating the bill\u2019s approval, climate campaigners and scientists warned that its ambition had been diluted and it must be implemented effectively to reverse the destruction of Europe\u2019s natural carbon sinks.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/18\/eu-warns-delaying-tactics-have-made-plastic-treaty-deal-very-difficult\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>EU warns<\/strong> \u201cdelaying tactics\u201d have made plastic treaty deal \u201cvery difficult\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The law requires each EU country to rejuvenate 20% of their degraded land and water habitats by 2030 and all of them by 2050, and to plant three billion more trees across the bloc by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It also requires countries to restore 30% of their drained peatlands by 2030 and 50% by mid-century. <strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peatlands that have been drained, largely for farming, forestry and peat extraction, are responsible for 5% of Europe\u2019s total greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Climate breakthrough<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Belgium\u2019s climate minister Zakia Khatattabi told Climate Home that the law\u2019s passing is \u201cnot only a breakthrough for nature but also for the climate\u201d, and would enable the EU to meet its emissions-cutting targets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said that \u201cwithout it, carbon neutrality in Europe would have been put beyond reach\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The amount of carbon dioxide sucked in by Europe\u2019s carbon sinks &#8211; including forests, peatlands, grassland, soil and oceans &#8211;\u00a0 has been <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/climate-advisory-board.europa.eu\/news\/priorities-may-change-but-science-remains-clear-europe-must-maintain-momentum-towards-achieving-its-climate-objectives\/chapter-9_land-use-land-use-change-and-forestry.pdf\/@@download\/file\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">falling since 2010<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. For forests, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wri.org\/insights\/europe-forest-loss-drivers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the World Resources Institute blames<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> logging for timber and biomass and more wildfires and pests for the decline.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51781\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51781\" class=\"wp-image-51781\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19163412\/Carbon-sinks.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19163412\/Carbon-sinks.jpg 837w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19163412\/Carbon-sinks-184x168.jpg 184w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19163412\/Carbon-sinks-369x337.jpg 369w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19163412\/Carbon-sinks-768x701.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51781\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>The amount of carbon sucked in is shrinking (black line) when it needs to increase to meet targets for 2030 (orange dot) and 2050 (blue dot) <br \/><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the EU\u2019s plan to meet its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 involves halting this decline and reversing it into a 15% increase on 2021 levels by 2030.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jette Bredahl Jacobsen, vice-chair of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, told Climate Home the new nature law \u201ccan contribute substantially to this, as healthy ecosystems can store more carbon and are more resilient against climate change impacts\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The law is extremely popular with the EU public, with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arc2020.eu\/survey-shows-huge-support-for-nature-restoration-law-in-blocking-member-states\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">75% of people polled<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in six EU countries saying they agree with it and just 6% opposing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Watered down<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/my-europe\/2023\/06\/01\/european-farmers-challenge-current-nature-restoration-proposal\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">farmer trade associations <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">were fiercely against it, and it became a symbolic battleground between right-wing and populist parties on one side and defenders of the EU Green Deal on the other.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several of the law&#8217;s strongest passages ended up diluted before it reached ministers for approval, including caveats added <\/span>to an obligation for countries to prevent any \u201cnet loss\u201d of urban green space and tree cover this decade.<\/p>\n<p>A new clause was introduced to deter EU states from using funds from the Common Agricultural Policy or Common Fisheries Policy to finance nature restoration \u2013 raising questions as to where money to implement the law will come from.<\/p>\n<p>And, most importantly, an obligation to restore peatlands that have been drained for farming &#8211; a major source of emissions &#8211; was weakened.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51793\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51793\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51793\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/20103927\/Germany-peat-restoration-small.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/20103927\/Germany-peat-restoration-small.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/20103927\/Germany-peat-restoration-small-252x168.jpg 252w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/20103927\/Germany-peat-restoration-small-506x337.jpg 506w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/20103927\/Germany-peat-restoration-small-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51793\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A peat bog under restoration in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, pictured in January 2022. (Photo: Imago Images\/R\u00fcdiger W\u00f6lk via Reuters)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The <a href=\"https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/EN\/TXT\/?uri=CELEX%3A52022PC0304\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">original regulation<\/a> would have instructed countries to rewet 30% of peatlands drained for agricultural use by 2030 and 70% by 2050 &#8211; the most effective way of restoring them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, as a concession to farmers, the <a href=\"https:\/\/data.consilium.europa.eu\/doc\/document\/PE-74-2023-INIT\/en\/pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">final version<\/a> of the nature law mandates rewetting just 7.5% of these peatlands by 2030 and 16.7% by 2050, with exceptions possible for actions such as replacing peatlands drained for agriculture with other uses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rewetting usually involves blocking drainage ditches. As well as reducing emissions, this helps an area adapt to climate change, protecting it from floods, and improving the water quality, soil and biodiversity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the Commission will also count other actions as peatland \u201crestoration\u201d, such as the partial raising of water tables, bans on the use of heavy machinery, tree removal, the reintroduction of peat-forming vegetation or fire prevention measures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s despite the European Commission\u2019s own <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/357776095_Best_Practice_Book_for_Peatland_Restoration_and_Climate_Change_Mitigation_-_Experiences_from_LIFE_Peat_Restore_Project\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rulebook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> describing these measures as \u201csupplementary to gain better results\u201d and saying that \u201cpeatland restoration should always primarily focus on rewetting\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/18\/lessons-from-rising-tensions-around-overcapacity-in-chinas-cleantech-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Lessons from<\/strong> trade tensions targeting \u201covercapacity\u201d in China\u2019s cleantech industry<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where rewetting does take place, as with all restoration measures in the final version of the regulation, EU states will be obliged to prioritise action in particular areas known as Natura 2000 sites. These cover <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/biodiversity.europa.eu\/natura2000\/en\/natura2000#:~:text=The%20Natura%202000%20network%20is,percent%20of%20its%20marine%20area.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">around 18%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the EU\u2019s territory, and should already have been restored under existing legislation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmentalists maintain that the legislation still has tremendous potential, pointing to possible actions such as the restoration of seagrass meadows which cover less than 0.1% of the ocean floor but absorb <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwf.org.uk\/what-we-do\/planting-hope-how-seagrass-can-tackle-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more than 10%<\/a>\u00a0of its carbon.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EU countries will now draft national nature restoration plans over the next two years showing how they intend to meet their targets, for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/environment.ec.europa.eu\/topics\/nature-and-biodiversity\/nature-restoration-law_en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">assessment<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by the Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>(Reporting by Arthur Neslen; editing by Joe Lo and Megan Rowling)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To meet climate goals, the European Union needs to reverse the decline of its carbon-storing ecosystems like forests and peatlands","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":51777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4232,82,4231,3864,1483],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4125],"class_list":["post-51772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-eu","category-land","category-nature","category-un-climate-talks","type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU&#039;s carbon sinks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To meet its climate goals and reach net-zero, the decline of EU&#039;s carbon sinks in forests and peatlands need to be reversed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU&#039;s carbon sinks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To meet its climate goals and reach net-zero, the decline of EU&#039;s carbon sinks in forests and peatlands need to be reversed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Home News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-20T09:45:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-21T11:29:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arthur Neslen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ArthurNeslen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ClimateHome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arthur Neslen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arthur Neslen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd247d1d5577865df5faf7d5ac41e7c1\"},\"headline\":\"Despite dilution, officials say new nature law can restore EU carbon sinks\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-20T09:45:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-21T11:29:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\"},\"wordCount\":910,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Agriculture\",\"EU\",\"Land\",\"Nature\",\"UN climate talks\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\",\"name\":\"Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU's carbon sinks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-20T09:45:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-21T11:29:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"To meet its climate goals and reach net-zero, the decline of EU's carbon sinks in forests and peatlands need to be reversed\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg\",\"width\":798,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"A squirrel in a forest in Finland (Photo: Markus Mauthe\/Greenpeace)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Despite dilution, officials say new nature law can restore EU carbon sinks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Home News\",\"description\":\"Climate change news, analysis, commentary, video and podcasts focused on developments in global climate politics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Climate Home News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png\",\"width\":2856,\"height\":862,\"caption\":\"Climate Home News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ClimateHome\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/climate-home-news\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/climatestudio\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd247d1d5577865df5faf7d5ac41e7c1\",\"name\":\"Arthur Neslen\",\"description\":\"Arthur Neslen is a freelance journalist based in Brussels. He was previously Europe environment correspondent for the Guardian and Climate Home News, and has also worked for the BBC, the Economist, Al Jazeera and EurActiv, where his journalism won environmental awards. He has written two books about Israeli and Palestinian identity.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/author\/arthur-neslen\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ArthurNeslen\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/author\/arthur-neslen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU's carbon sinks","description":"To meet its climate goals and reach net-zero, the decline of EU's carbon sinks in forests and peatlands need to be reversed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU's carbon sinks","og_description":"To meet its climate goals and reach net-zero, the decline of EU's carbon sinks in forests and peatlands need to be reversed","og_url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/","og_site_name":"Climate Home News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/","article_published_time":"2024-06-20T09:45:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-21T11:29:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":798,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arthur Neslen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ArthurNeslen","twitter_site":"@ClimateHome","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arthur Neslen","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/"},"author":{"name":"Arthur Neslen","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd247d1d5577865df5faf7d5ac41e7c1"},"headline":"Despite dilution, officials say new nature law can restore EU carbon sinks","datePublished":"2024-06-20T09:45:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-21T11:29:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/"},"wordCount":910,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg","articleSection":["Agriculture","EU","Land","Nature","UN climate talks"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/","name":"Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU's carbon sinks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-20T09:45:36+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-21T11:29:57+00:00","description":"To meet its climate goals and reach net-zero, the decline of EU's carbon sinks in forests and peatlands need to be reversed","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/06\/19091627\/Grey-squirrel2.jpg","width":798,"height":450,"caption":"A squirrel in a forest in Finland (Photo: Markus Mauthe\/Greenpeace)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/06\/20\/despite-dilution-officials-say-new-nature-law-can-restore-eu-carbon-sinks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Despite dilution, officials say new nature law can restore EU carbon sinks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/","name":"Climate Home News","description":"Climate change news, analysis, commentary, video and podcasts focused on developments in global climate politics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization","name":"Climate Home News","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png","width":2856,"height":862,"caption":"Climate Home News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ClimateHome","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/climate-home-news","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/climatestudio"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bd247d1d5577865df5faf7d5ac41e7c1","name":"Arthur Neslen","description":"Arthur Neslen is a freelance journalist based in Brussels. He was previously Europe environment correspondent for the Guardian and Climate Home News, and has also worked for the BBC, the Economist, Al Jazeera and EurActiv, where his journalism won environmental awards. He has written two books about Israeli and Palestinian identity.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/author\/arthur-neslen","https:\/\/x.com\/ArthurNeslen"],"url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/author\/arthur-neslen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51772"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51831,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51772\/revisions\/51831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51772"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=51772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}