EU passes Nature Restoration Act amidst opposition by Finland

The European Environment Council on Monday approved the Nature Restoration Act where Finland cast vote against the initiative, said a government press release.

The Regulation will enter into force in July-August. The Member States must submit their national restoration plans within two years from the entry into force of the Regulation.

Finland did not support the initiative and voted against the Regulation because of the proportionately higher costs for Finland compared to other Member States.

During the negotiation process Finland worked hard to influence the content of the Regulation, in close cooperation with other Member States.

In the negotiations Finland’s main focus was on matters where the implementation costs for the country could be reduced. Finland considered that the different circumstances of the Member States should be better accounted for and more flexibilities should be allowed in the implementation. With the amendments proposed by Finland, the costs are now more reasonable.

“Now we must find the means to implement the Nature Restoration Regulation in the Finnish conditions in a way that is as cost-efficient as possible and suited to our economic activities. The Regulation is now more acceptable for us than the earlier versions, but we still could not support the outcome as the costs could have been distributed more fairly. However, the need to moderate the costs and act more fairly was widely recognised and supported, which means that this should be reflected in the implementation,” said Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen.

The aim of the Nature Restoration Regulation is to improve a broad range of ecosystems in different kinds of environments, both in protected areas and outside these.

The Regulation introduces binding targets and obligations to improve the state of nature in different kinds of habitats. The measures should cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.

The types of ecosystems covered by the Regulation include mires, wetlands, meadows, waters, forests, agricultural environments, pollinators and urban environments.

The European Commission proposed the Regulation on nature restoration in June 2022. The proposed Regulation is part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which aims to halt the loss of biodiversity and reverse its negative trend by 2030.