On July 12, the landmark Nature Restoration Law was adopted in a cliffhanger vote at the European Parliament. Our guest, prominent Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala – who's one the parliament's vice-presidents – says she is "relieved" that the EU parliament now has a position to negotiate with the member states. She applauds the law as "step towards combating climate change", and decries what she calls the use of "fake news and disinformation" by far-right as well as right-wing parties on the nature restoration issue. Hautala also praises the EU parliament's recent approval of the corporate due diligence directive, saying "companies must unlearn old bad habits".
Asked about the Nature Restoration Law, which aims to restore 20 percent of the EU's land and sea area by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050, Hautala says: "We all made a lot of compromises to support the outcome, but it is there, and we can continue now. We realise how important nature protection is to combating climate change – they are very much interlinked."
