The NATURE RESTORATION LAW adopted by the European Union’s Environmental Council on June 17 2024 . The environmental council for which is responsible for environment and biodiversity in European Union member States. It sets a legally binding target for the EU and its member states to restore 20% of land and seas of Europe and the deadline is 2030. This law is part of the EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 to restore Terrestrial ecosystems and marine ecosystems. The planning to restore all degraded ecosystems in the middle of the century 2050. The EU is also supposed to achieve net zero emissions so in line with its climate commitments, the EU also made environmental biodiversity commitments.
The Nature Restoration Law is part of the European Union’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 and European green deal as part of the agreements. The European Union has brought out this law to protect the degraded land and ecosystems . It focuses on a broad range of ecosystems, from forests and agricultural lands to rivers and urban spaces, implementing specific measures such as the restoration of 25,000 kilometres of rivers into free flowing rivers and the planting of three billion additional trees by 2030
Lessons offered for india
India also suffers from severe land and ecosystem degradation. In fact ISRO brings desertification and land degradation atlas to India by using satellite mapping. ISRO has estimated the extent of India’s geographical area which is undergoing desertification and land degradation especially droughts. In general, destruction of ecosystems can lead to degradation of land and land that degrades will lose its productivity. It is vulnerable to erosion to the elements of nature like water ,wind ,etc. This results in the land turning infertile and turning into desserts. India is facing serious challenges with regard to expansion of deserts and ISRO’s desertification and land degradation Atlas indicates very clearly.
According to the desertification and land degradation Atlas of ISRO nearly 30% of India’s geographical area is undergoing land degradation and desertification. This is an alarming number. If not restore this desertification and land degradation it might cause more than half of the geographical area to fall under this category. This will severely hit agricultural production, it would affect the economy and society as well. This has very serious consequences and especially deals with global warming and climate change. There are few states that are more vulnerable such as Gujarat, Karnataka , Maharashtra and Rajasthan than these arid and semi arid regions of the country; they account for nearly 24% of the dessertified land area of the country. Even the other states like Madhya pradesh, Uttar pradesh, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana all these areas also underwent serious land degradation and desertification. Even a few parts of West Bengal and Bihar and Tamil Nadu as well. This will affect the farmers, agriculture and economy.
India’s initiatives to restore ecosystems
Currently India has many schemes and initiatives to deal with ecosystem restoration especially to counter desertification and land degradation. For example, the Green India Mission focuses on afforestation measures and agroforestry measures. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana which focuses on promoting irrigation in arid and semiarid regions. The Integrated Watershed Management Programme plays an important role in conserving water in ensuring adequate water supply.
The National Afforestation Programme also plays an important role to meet the net zero emissions target. There are sufficient schemes and programmes but India needs a legally binding target. So the government is pushed to enforce and implement these schemes and initiatives to protect the ecosystems. It is an achievable target if India has a law similar to the European Union. India should also adopt a law based on the Nature Restoration Law of the EU.
India will also set a target that around 20% to 30% of our land and sea area which is undergoing severe degradation could be prioritised for immediate restoration. Then identify certain ecosystems be it forests, wetlands ,rivers , agricultural lands as well as urban green spaces. Provide for conservation and restoration efforts. Prioritise the forest in Western ghats in northeast India at the foothills of Himalayas and also in eastern ghats region.
With regard to wetlands, India can look at critical ecosystems like sundarbans and the chilka lake which are rich with biodiversity but they are facing serious threat because of global warming and pollution as well as loss of habitat which is a threat to the species. India should focus on restoring our river ecosystems from ganga to brahmaputra to the peninsula rivers. They are all threatened by water pollution and poor management of the waste water. The affluent should be focused as a priority. Restoring and protecting agricultural land from degradation and desertification. This will have the most impact.
Finally urban areas, If they promote urban forestry community forests and parks and green spaces this will help tackle the effect of urban heat islands . Most of the cities are affected due to heat waves and urban heat islands so this could provide a solution. It can help in moderating regulating temperatures during summer months in our cities.
Then restoring agricultural land can be taken up to agro forestry which will also bring commercial benefit to the farmers. It will create additional sources of income to the farmers as well to support their livelihood. Right now there are sufficient schemes and initiatives but India doesn’t have a target or a law that mandates the achievements of the target.
India’s socio-economic gain by the outcome of the law
The biggest outcome would be the socio -economic outcome. The World Economic Forum estimated that if the entire world focuses on ecosystems restoration and restores nature and biodiversity this can bring economic benefits up to $10 trillion annually by 2030. The law could also help India to meet its sustainable development Goals (Goal 15) which calls for the sustainable management of forests and combating desertification. By restoring its ecosystems, India can enhance its carbon sinks and meet its commitments under the Paris agreement.
By the end of the decade the world focuses on the global biodiversity framework which is part of the convention on biological diversity. Under the global biodiversity framework also called Kunming Montreal protocol which was brought out in 2022 under the CBD Convention. Countries have declared a target to restore 30 by 30. To restore 30% of land area and 30% of marine ecosystem by 2030.
Currently the conference of parties to CBD is taking place in Kali, Colombia. Countries are reviewing their progress towards achieving the 30×30 target laid down under Global Biodiversity Framework. If countries can adopt laws based on this and set a target of 20% or 30% restoration of their degraded ecosystems that would be a significant achievement. If by 2050, all countries can restore at least half of all the degraded ecosystems this could bring tremendous economic and social benefits.
It could help the farmers because countering degradation and desertification will boost agricultural productivity. It will make farming more resilient to the impact of droughts. Improved agricultural productivity is a boon for the rural economy. It will benefit the farmers and help to mitigate the impact of climate change because agriculture is a climate sensitive sector.
Extreme weather events are already impacting agricultural productivity and food security. This can improve water security not only for irrigation but for drinking purposes and industrial purposes. When the water shortages during the summer months, restoration of ecosystems like wetlands can ensure sufficient water and recharging the groundwater table. It also creates millions of jobs and boosts the economy as well.
Conclusion
These are the analyses brought out by the author to bring an immediate law in India to restore the ecosystems from degradation and meet the commitments to achieve net zero target by 2070. India needs a similar law like the EU’s Nature Restoration Law. This law can have many social benefits because many communities depend on the ecosystems present around them. For example, the coastal belt of India, the coastal communities are dependent on the mangrove ecosystems and mangrove wetlands.
That is a source of their livelihood. This could bring social transformation and social benefits to the communities as well. There can be major impacts on climate goals also. India has a very ambitious commitment under paris agreement to reduce emissions and to reduce intensity to adopt clean energy. So restoring the ecosystems will help in creating massive carbon sinks. All these ecosystems have tremendous potential for carbon sequestration be it forests, wetlands, green spaces that create in rural and urban areas this help in absorbing more carbon this helping us achieve our net zero target by 2070.
‘Obligation Of Every Nation should be Ecosystem Restoration!’
Author: Lavanya KS, a 2nd Year LLM student at Chennai Dr Ambedkar Government Law College, Pudhupakkam
