Yes for Yasuni ๐
The EU Nature Restoration Law Explained
Dear earthlings,
We are writing to you from the deep jungle and bringing a mix of good and bad news. Last week Ecuadorians voted in a nation-wide referendum on whether to ban oil operations in the Amazonโs Yasuni National Park. In a historic decision the people of Ecuador voted for the jungle and against drilling ๐.
This makes us wonder what wouldโve happened if the EU had launched a referendum on the Nature Restoration Law instead? Below a story that explains the intricacies behind the EUโs new law and why weโre not celebrating it as a victory.
๐๏ธ In Climate News
๐ฐ๐ชWorldโs largest soil carbon removal project enlists Kenyan pastoralists
๐ช๐ธ Wildfires in Tenerife, Spain force thousands to evacuate.
๐ธ The richest Americans account for 40 percent of U.S. climate emissions.
โฐ๏ธ Town in the Andes reac 38ยฐC in the middle of winter.
๐ฑ Region of Acre, Amazonia, hits historic drought of 70 days โreporting directly.
โฝ Fossil fuel firms move to dismiss climate lawsuit in Hawaii as Maui faces wildfires.
๐ย Cool Trends
โพ๏ธ eco-stories
๐ช๐บ Restoring Europe
A key part of the European Unionโs Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Nature Restoration Law is โthe first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind.โ The EU first published the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 in May 2020, part of what it called the โGreen Dealโ, also referred to as Sustainable Europe Investment Plan (SEIP), a series of proposals and policies with the ambition of no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and for economic growth to be decoupled from resource use. In the face of over half of Europeโs endemic trees being threatened with extinctionโฏ, and 81% of protected habitats and 63% of species in the EU having a poor or bad conservation status, as well as the extreme weather events of the deepening climate crisis, the EU felt the need to sanctify climate action through policy.
On June 22 2022, the European Commission published the Nature Restoration Law, a proposal for legally binding targets to revive forests, wetlands, sea and landscapes that have been aversely affected by human development, with emphasis on those with the most potential to capture and store carbon, and that prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters.
๐ย The Culture Club
๐บย What weโre watching: Guardians of the Amazon
๐ธ Profile of the week: @waoresistencia
๐ What weโre reading: The Wizard of the Upper Amazon, Manuel Cordova-Rios
๐คฏ Scary fact we learnt this week: You can see fast fashionโs giant landfill in Chile from space.