Irish MEPs are being urged to stop politicking and do the right thing to deliver Europe’s Nature Restoration Law amid “disinformation and lies” about agricultural impacts.
Grace O’Sullivan says land will not be ‘stolen’ from farmers and that failure to usher in this game changing law will have a major impact on food security and the nature we rely on for life.
The Green Party MEP says Europe’s new Nature Restoration Law follows the Biodiversity Strategy which had cross party support.
Read more: In pics: Nature Restoration Law protest outside Dail over exploits of MEPs
It aims to reverse the major decline in species and habitats across Europe, where 81% of habitats are in a bad state and 1,677 species are threatened with extinction.
But tensions have been mounting in recent weeks.
The public, environmental groups and politicians rallied outside the Dail on Wednesday to urge Irish politicians to support the proposed law.
Minister Malcolm Noonan told us: “It works for Irish farming and works for nature.
“The targets for 2030 and even 2040 can be met with State lands and thereafter we are talking about a small contribution by farming possibly under 14,000 hectares. Anything, we’ve stated publicly will be voluntary.
“Farmers love these schemes... and we see it a great opportunity, not just to restore nature but to make our farming more resilient.”
Later that day, the centre-right European People’s Party, which represents 82 parties including Fine Gael, walked out of negotiations at the European Parliament.
Farmers, including the Irish Farmers Association, then took to the streets of Brussels in protest after European Farmers (COPA) and European Agri Corporations (COGEA) published an “information sheet” saying “nature restoration will push our farmers off their land, out of business, and remove agriculture from our rural communities”.
We spoke to Grace O’Sullivan, who is at the heart of what’s happening in Brussels.
She said: “I don’t know why they are feeding this disinformation, these lies... and creating stress and fear in people like farmers.
“Without nature there is no farmers, without nature there is no food production and with nature our basic conditions for survival - air, water, plants and seas will be compromised.
“It is really not the time for them or the IFA to be peddling any information that is not factual.”
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, told the Dail on Wednesday: “Ireland supports the protection and enhancement of nature and the rationale for its restoration.”
He added: “There has been a real attempt in some quarters to create fear and concern among farmers.
“I recognise this is an emotive issue for many but it is not helpful to peddle fear with rumour, hearsay and innuendo.
“We must not lose sight of the opportunity the proposed regulation presents us with.”
The EU’s first Nature Restoration Law was proposed in June 2022 - and aims to restore 20% of EU land and sea by 2030 as well as all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
It also includes targets for rural and urban environments, rivers, forests, peatlands, wetlands, marine and all its activities.
Ms O’Sullivan says there are rumblings that EPP president, German politician Manfred Weber, may challenge Ursula Von Der Leyen for the role of European Commission President.
And fears that’s why the party is trying to “scupper” the Nature Restoration Law which followed her European Green Deal.
“In recent weeks MEPs came out with very strong information that really was not accurate,” added Ms O’Sullivan.
“Then they walked out of the talks and for me that is shocking. The parties were elected by the people to go through the democratic process... sitting down around the table, pushing, shoving, enabling, compromising.
“That’s how we get the legislation on the table. The fact they’ve upped and left the table is an absolute disgrace.
“There is so much good in this legislation... and there’s so much flexibility and there’s no one going to steal the farmers’ land.
“Everything that has been proposed is about voluntary contributions and... there’s a set aside fund to support farmers. But this is [about] much more than just farmers,” she added.
“Bord Na Mona are already restoring - they are already rewetting - and every bit of work that has been done over the last number of years will contribute.”
Grace says an impact assessment has been done as well as consultations with different interest groups in November and January.
She added: “Each member state will put in their own plans in place, just like the climate plan.”
And told us all Irish parties signed up to the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy which preceded the proposed law and included much more ambitious and binding targets.
“I’m getting very frustrated because we were all there together, agreeing with the European Green Deal and the need for it.”
If it falls, she says: “We are on a path to environmental and biodiversity catastrophe.
“We need the ecosystem services of the nature restoration law to allow us to mitigate and adapt to climate change.”
The IFA was contacted for comment.
The European Parliament will vote on the Nature Restoration Law on June 15.
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