As the world battles a multitude of climate, biodiversity, economic and health crises, we must look to nature for answers. The European Commission's proposed Nature Restoration Law is a generational opportunity to secure a sustainable future for all corners of society, bringing natural ecosystems back to a continent where true wilderness is hard to find.

Every two years, WWF publishes its flagship Living Planet Report - a comprehensive, science-based survey on the current state of nature. This year's report, published in October, has once again shown the dire state of nature on our planet: it revealed a devastating 69% drop in wildlife populations globally on average since 1970. We have lost more than two-thirds of wild animals in my lifetime alone!

The outlook of the state of nature is indeed stark. And the unpalatable truth is that we Europeans have become accustomed to it. According to the Living Planet Report, Europe scores very badly for "biodiversity intactness". The wildlife populations decline of 18% in the region of "Europe and Central Asia" may not seem as drastic as the more steeply declining trends in other regions, but it is important to note that much biodiversity had already been depleted by the Living Planet Index' 1970 baseline year, while other regions have been subject to human impact more recently.

Nevertheless, it is alarming to see that the downward trend in Europe still continues despite some conservation successes. The findings also show that bringing nature back to Europe will be critical. And opportunities to bend the curve lie in waiting if we are willing to grasp them.

The prospect that future generations of Europeans will spend their lives without contact with any genuine wilderness is frightening but real. Unless we do something urgently.

One such opportunity is the proposed new EU Nature Restoration Law. Presented by the European Commission in June 2022, it aims to drive the restoration of ecosystems on land and at sea, and to contribute to the EU's objectives concerning climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The proposed law is a massive opportunity to bring nature back to Europe. It promises unparalleled benefits for nature, climate and people. Because ecosystem restoration is not just about saving wildlife. It could be exactly the insurance policy we need for the EU's long-term sustainability and resilience.

Europe scores badly for "biodiversity intactness", according to WWF's Living Planet Report.

IMAGE: Stefan Rosengren / Alamy

Nature as our ally to tackle climate change

Some say that we live in an age of "permacrisis" with wave after wave of crises crashing in over us. In just over a decade, we have faced the largest financial crisis since the 1930s, the worst pandemic in a century and the most serious geopolitical crisis since the end of the Cold War, with a global recession waiting just around the corner.

Against this backdrop, public, media and political attention on the climate crisis seems to rise and fall. Periods of dwindling attention, however, do not mean the problem itself has faded.

The fight against climate change is as crucial as ever. The latest IPCC report shows that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and current plans to address climate change are not ambitious enough to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—a threshold scientists believe is necessary to avoid even more catastrophic impacts, and enshrined in the Paris Agreement

If we pair the colossal climate emergency with the staggering biodiversity loss documented in the WWF Living Planet Report, we are not only looking at the greatest risks for our societies: that of ecological collapse. Together, the two crises have underlying causes that are interlinked and must be tackled together.

The solutions involve complementary and synergistic measures. Climate change mitigation and adaptation, in particular, require better protection and restoration of biodiversity. To stay below a 1.5°C rise in average global temperature, we need an extremely rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. But this alone is not enough to achieve the 1.5C goal; instead, it has to be combined with at least some carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere.

Given the risks, costs and uncertainties associated with technology-based CDR solutions, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), a safer and much more feasible way to store carbon is by increasing the natural sinks through the restoration of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. And the restoration of ecosystems like peatlands, forests, and seagrass meadows can help reduce emissions and sequester millions of tons of carbon each year.

Nature restoration is also our best insurance policy against the worst impacts of climate adaptation, which we are already experiencing now in Europe. It will increase our resilience to droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. The good news is that, if implemented timely and properly, large-scale nature restoration, as proposed in the EU Nature Restoration Law, will enable ecosystems to absorb and store more CO2 and will increase our resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Forests are excellent carbon stores but their health is deteriorating.

IMAGE: Wild Wonders of Europe / Cornelia Doerr / WWF

A study by IEEP, on the  climate mitigation potential of large-scale nature restoration in Europe, commissioned by WWF, highlights this potential clearly. It shows that restoring degraded terrestrial habitats across the EU could take up to 300 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent out of the atmosphere, which equates to the combined annual greenhouse gas emissions from the BENELUX countries. This is significant indeed.

Forests are by far the largest terrestrial carbon stores, but deforestation and forest degradation account for as much as 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe, forests may be increasing in area, but their health is deteriorating, and their ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere is decreasing.

To achieve an effective win-win situation for biodiversity conservation and CO2 removal, we must turn to passive as well as active forest restoration.

Taking the passive route means halting logging and letting forests mature so that they can recover old-growth, while active measures include the removal of non-native species and promoting deadwood and veteran trees, as they improve forests' resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Together with forests, peatlands – a type of wetland in which plant material never fully decomposes – is one of the most efficient types of land-based carbon storage, as organic matter decays very slowly in such water-saturated soils.

Peatlands: A highly efficient land-based carbon storage.

IMAGE: Michel Gunther / WWF

Aerial view of Peat bog, Oulanka National Park, Finland.

IMAGE: Wild Wonders of Europe / Widstrand / WWF

The ocean absorbs approximately a quarter of the global CO2 emissions.

IMAGE: Michel Gunther / WWF

An investment, not an expense

From rebuilding the social fabric of post-industrial regions and creating jobs to the provision of ecosystem services like clean water and flood protection, nature restoration makes economic sense.

Spending money on nature restoration is an investment, not an expense, and large-scale nature restoration in the EU will not only help tackle the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change but also benefit local – and global – economies.

The choice really should be rather simple because we are losing nature faster than it can restore itself, and the costs of inaction on biodiversity loss are soaring.

Between 1997 and 2011, the world lost an estimated USD 4-20 trillion (EUR 3.3-16.5 trillion) each year in ecosystem services due to land-cover change, including conversion of natural forests into cropland, and USD 6-11 trillion (EUR 5-9 trillion) a year from land degradation, like soil erosion and desertification.

Today, more than half of the world's total GDP is at risk due to nature loss. In Europe, the economic benefits of the Natura 2000 network are valued at EUR 200-300 billion a year and around 4.4 million jobs are directly dependent on the maintenance of healthy ecosystems, a significant proportion of which is situated within the Natura 2000 sites.

Closing the funding gap that's needed for the effective management of the network could generate 500,000 additional jobs. All in all, investing in large-scale nature restoration makes socio-economic sense, and the benefits of restoration are on average ten times higher than the costs. Achieving the Bonn Challenge target of restoring 46% of the world's degraded forests, for example, could generate USD 7-30 (EUR 6-25) for every euro spent.

Nature restoration leads to job creation and economic growth in regions where the environment has been degraded or even completely destroyed. In post-industrial regions and landscapes, for example, nature restoration has helped boost the local economy through employment and tourism opportunities, restoring the social fabric of the region and providing locals with a healthier environment to live in.

Take the Emscher Landscape Park (ELP), in the north of Germany's Ruhr area as an example. The largest ecosystem restoration project in Europe, it was created over 20 years ago in a once heavily industrialised region.

Since then, the ELP has become a "green connector" between the settlements of the Ruhr valley, and uses the abandoned industrial areas along the Emscher River as a unique form of green space. In addition to the major benefits for the local ecosystems, surface water quality and urban regeneration, the ELP has created more than 55,000 jobs in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.

With numerous recreational activities on offer – including hiking and biking trails, industrial heritage and cultural sites, as well as a climbing wall at a former iron smelting site – the park attracts around one million visitors every year. The value of the parks' direct ecosystem services is estimated at EUR 21 million, while the additional benefits to users are estimated at EUR 107 million annually.

Declining nature equals declining health

It is little wonder that hikers and bikers turn out in droves at the ELP. It is simply good for them. Yes, you can set the pulse racing in the gym, but doing so in a high-quality natural environment is even better. Even if you are not a cardio fanatic, just standing still and staring at birds and trees is enough to benefit your health and wellbeing.

According to one study, spending just two hours a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Restoring natural ecosystems, therefore, will create a healthy living environment for people, providing crucial ecosystem services that human health is dependent on.

It is sorely needed, too. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), poor environmental quality contributes to one in eight deaths – 630,000 – in the EU per year.

Air pollution alone causes around 400,000 deaths each year, and is also responsible for lung and respiratory diseases, factors that increase the risk of death from viruses like COVID-19. WHO Europe estimates that the economic burden of the health impact of air pollution exceeds EUR 1 trillion annually.

We all need our moments of peace and quiet, but they are harder to find the further you move away from natural areas. Sure, the city buzz can be invigorating, but too much noise is not only annoying, it is an important health and environmental risk, resulting in 12,000 premature deaths annually and contributing to 48,000 new cases of cardiovascular disease.

We simply need more nature. And we need it wherever we can get it. Indeed, increasing the size of and accessibility to green and blue spaces in cities could help tackle problems with noise and air pollution and, in turn, bad mental and physical health. There are other benefits as well because trees, for example, buffer noise, reduce the heat island effect, and capture air pollutants.

A possible turning point

The Nature Restoration Law, presented by the European Commission at the end of June this year, can put the EU's degraded ecosystems on a path to recovery and is a smart way of increasing Europe's resilience to droughts, floods, fires and other extreme weather events, and it will also contribute to our long-term food security. It is an important milestone with the potential to make a real impact at the scales required if implemented in a timely and well-considered manner.

The legal proposal is now being discussed by the EU Member States and the European Parliament. At WWF, we urge the European Parliament and EU Member States to fully endorse and strengthen the proposal where needed to quickly adopt an ambitious law which will drive large-scale restoration.

This can be the turning point where we finally realise that the recovery of nature will boost not only the planet's health but also our wellbeing and economies.