From June 8 to 9, at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) in Brussels, the “big five” groups met and discussed the current situation in sectors of nature, water, air, soil and agriculture as a joint effort to contribute to better regulation and implementation in those sectors. It seems urgent actions need to be planned for the next 6 to 12 months in member states, but also in accession countries belonging to WB6 economies, having in mind that nature, water, air, soil and agriculture have been “suffering” for a long time due to failure to take appropriate measures against continuous degradation caused by climate change and human-performed activities.
EEB working group meetings started with the session on developing a Workstream to defend EU nature laws, including an exchange on working with the European Parliament, an exchange on working with the Council, working with allies, the European Federation of Public Service Unions, as well as an example of national work by EEB Members.
Session that followed related to the workstream on the implementation of the EU nature laws, with an introduction to the key files of the Working Groups (Nature Restoration Law, Birds and Habitats Directives, Water Framework Directive, Soil Monitoring Law) and moderated panel discussion on smart implementation, with participation of EC representatives from Land Use & Management Unit, Nature Unit, Freshwater Unit, as well as organizations Natuurmonumenten and ClientEarth.
Another session covered the workstream on new or upcoming laws or opportunities relevant to nature, concerning the Climate resilience framework presented by a representative from the Adaptation Unit, DG CLIMA, and continued with the possibility for implementation of Nature-based solutions and Nature financing.
Internal EEB WGs session relates to planning joint work in the next 6 to 12 months. This interactive session was used to start developing strategies for the coming months, with a focus on developing a draft work plan among working groups, as well as a joint discussion on EEB horizontal policy work, comms work and fundraising.
In the upcoming time, there will be many challenges on the road to preserving nature in the most acceptable way to secure the main values and to be in line with the social and economic developments of human society.