A joint statement signed by over 140 civil society organisations, including EEB, Greenpeace, BirdLife, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, WWF, ClientEarth, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, and GOB Mallorca. The statement puts a spotlight on the ongoing political attack ahead of the EU elections on EU efforts to protect people and the planet and the false solution put forward to solve hardships of farmers and rural communities.

Our society’s relationship with the nature that sustains it is fundamentally broken. Despite the growing evidence of looming ecological collapse and the alarming acceleration of the climate crisis, European governments and EU politicians are currently blocking new measures to protect nature and tearing up ones already in place.

Healthy nature underpins our ability to feed ourselves, to have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe and a safe climate to live in. We are horrified that so many politicians across Europe are threatening the basis of life on this planet to provide false solutions to farmers’ hardships, while doing nothing to address farmers’ complaints of abusive practices in the supply chain or unfair competition and cheap imports from trade deals. And all this as an opportunistic attempt to gather a few more votes in the upcoming elections.

The European Environment Agency has warned that the continent is woefully underprepared for the impacts of a changing climate. Natural ecosystems that protect us from the worst of extreme weather, drought, heatwaves and floods are disappearing when we should be restoring them.

In recent months, Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission has loosened pollution rules for industrial farms, dropped plans for sustainable food production, abandoned targets to reduce pesticides and shelved efforts to ensure a resilient water supply. Some national governments have frozen EU plans to restore nature in Europe and compromised corporate due diligence rules protecting human rights and the environment. Now, the European Commission wants to scrap basic environmental standards for farms to appease industry lobbyists, and agriculture ministers are threatening the EU’s new rules to fight global deforestation.

Nature is not in conflict with our society’s ability to thrive, it is the very foundation of it. But some politicians in European capitals, and in the EU institutions in Brussels, are accelerating the nature and climate crisis, and risking the lives of the people they represent. We urge you to stop before it is too late.

 

Signatories (list below)

Academia Española de Nutrición y Dietética

Acção Ambiental – Portugal

ActionAid

AGROLINK Association

Alimentta, think tank para la transición alimentaria

Amigos de la Tierra – Friends of the Earth Spain

An Taisce-The National Trust for Ireland

Animal Protection Denmark (Dyrenes Beskyttelse)

Aquatic Life Institute

ARCHE NOAH

Arnika

Asociación Biela y Tierra

Asociación Vida Sana

Associação Vegetariana Portuguesa

Association Biom

Associazione Veneta Produttori Biologici e Biodinamici

Bergwaldprojekt e.V.

Biofuelwatch

BirdLife Cyprus

BirdLife Europe

BirdLife Sverige

Bond Beter Leefmilieu

Both ENDS

BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany)

BUND Naturschutz in Bayern (Friends of the Earth Bavaria)

BUNDjugend

Bündnis für eine enkeltaugliche Landwirtschaft e.V.

Canopea

CELL (Luxembourg)

Children of the Earth (Děti Země)

ClientEarth

Coalición Por Otra PAC

Coalition Living Earth (Koalicja Żywa Ziemia)

Comité Schone Lucht

Compassion in World Farming EU

Coordination gegen BAYER-Gefahren

Corporate European Observatory

Creatura Think & Do Tank ry

Czech Society for Ornithology

denkhausbremen

Deutsche Umwelthilfe

DOF BirdLife

Ecologistas en Accion

EDEN center

EEB

Ei polteta tulevaisuutta, Finland

Ekō

Entraide et Fraternité

Environmental Investigation Agency

Environmental Paper Network International

Environmental Pillar

Estonian Green Movement / FoE Estonia

Euro Coop

Eurogroup for Animals

EuroNatur

European Vegetarian Union

Federación de Consumidores y Usuarios CECU

Federazione Nazionale Pro Natura

Feedback EU

The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation

Food & Water Action Europe

foodwatch international

Forests of the World/Verdens Skove

Forum Ökologie & Papier

FOUR PAWS

France Nature Environnement

Freedom for Animals (Svoboda zvířat)

Friends of the Earth Europe

Friends of the Earth Malta

Fundación Entretantos

Fundación Global Nature

Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua

Fundación Vida Sostenible

Fundacja Zielone Światło

Future Food 4 Climate

GEN-GOB

GLOBAL 2000 – Friends of the Earth Austria

Global Witness

GOB Menorca

GOB-Mallorca

Green Impact

Green REV Institute

Greenpeace

Grupo de Estudos de Ordenamento do Território e Ambiente

Hnutí Brontosaurus

Hnutí DUHA – Friends of the Earth Czech Republic

Humundi

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

International Nature Conservation Group JARO

ISDE, International Society of Doctors for Environment

Koalice pro řeky (Coalition for Rivers, Czechia)

LandschappenNL

Latvian Fund for Nature

Latvijas Ornitoloģijas biedrība

Leefmilieu

Legambiente

Les Amis de la Terre France

Liga para a Protecção da Natureza

Lipu BirdLife Italia

LPO France

Luontoliitto (The Finnish Nature Association)

Marilles Foundation

MENSA CÍVICA

Mouvement écologique

NABU

Nadace na ochranu zvířat (Foundation for the Protection of Animals)

Name of organisation

Natagora

National Society of Conservationists – Friends of the Earth Hungary

Natuurmonumenten

Natuurpunt

Nauka dla Przyrody

NOAH-Friends of the Earth Denmark

Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio

Oxfam

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe

Polish Society for the Protection of Birds, BirdLife Poland

PowerShift

ProVeg International

Quercus

Rete Semi Rurali

Rettet den Regenwald e.V.

REVER – Réseau d’Échange et de Valorisation en Ecologie de la Restauration

Rewilding Europe

ROBIN WOOD e.V.

Salva la Selva

SEO/BirdLife Spain

Slovenská ornitologická spoločnosť / BirdLife Slovensko

Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves

Society for Ecological Restoration Europe

Society for Sustainable Living

SOS Faim Luxembourg

Středisko ekologické výchovy SEVER

TAPP Coalition

Terra! – APS

Terre d’Abeilles

TROCA – Plataforma por um Comércio Internacional Justo

Umanotera

VOICE (Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment)

Wohllebens Wald und Wildnis gGmbH

WWF European Policy Office

Xarxa per la Conservació de la Natura

Zelený kruh (Green circle)

ZERO

Zielone Wiadomości

Zveza biodinamikov Slovenije

 

Originally published at bit.ly/44VuwRW by European Environmental Bureau

See original publication for copies of symbols of supporting organizations