The European Parliament should adopt an “integral and holistic vision” on nature and the environment because these are issues that affect society and future generations, Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera and European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius urged on Monday.
Ribera (PSOE/S&D) and Sinkevicius attended the informal EU Council on the environment for the first day of the Spanish EU Council presidency in Valladolid.
The EU “cannot take a step backwards in the Green Deal”, and EU partners will review the economic, sectoral and environmental approaches to provide a “global response” to tackle the current climate emergency, said Ribera.
The Spanish minister also urged MEPs to seek a “comprehensive vision” on the complex debate in the European Parliament on the Nature Restoration Law “because ecosystems cannot stop”.
She was joined by Sinkevicius, who said the Commission would do its utmost to ensure that the law –rejected by the European People’s Party (EPP)- is passed as soon as possible, although “the margin is narrow”.
At the meeting in Valladolid, EU ministers also discussed the problems of water shortages, soil, forests and adaptation to climate change from the perspective of commitments to biodiversity and future generations, Ribera added.
Ribera said that EU lawmakers discussing the Nature Restoration Law must “take into account the commitments to society” and the international commitments made at COP15 Montreal Convention for the Protection of Biodiversity, noting that “a fragmented vision only limits social, economic and environmental progress”.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Read more with EURACTIV
Sánchez, opposition leader, clash in first pre-election TV debate;
Source: euractiv.com
