International call to defend laws that protect nature

Is climate change being openly questioned? Are we going backwards in the measures against the environmental crisis? Setting aside the positions of climate change deniers, who already have very powerful media platforms to spread their message, and despite the scientific evidence, are we witnessing an institutional rollback in the fight against global warming?

Faced with this drift, several environmental organizations have launched an international campaign to warn that not a single step back can be taken in the defense of nature. ‘Hands off nature’ calls on citizens to take action to preserve environmental protection laws and regulations.

The initiative —promoted by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), ClientEarth, Ecologistes en Acció, and SEO/BirdLife— was designed as a response to the movement of the European Commission (EC), which at the beginning of August discreetly opened a public consultation (Have to say) inviting companies, organizations, and citizens to express their opinion on whether the environmental laws of the European Union (EU) should be “simplified.”

This call for public participation by the European body hides, according to the promoters of the campaign, “an attempt to erode the environmental laws, regulations, and requirements that companies, governments, and citizens must comply with to protect the environment and health.” For this reason, through the campaign they urge citizens to send personalized messages defending environmental regulations to the EC within the framework of the public consultation.

Those who wish to do so have until September 10 —the date on which the consultation process ends— through the campaign website or other pages enabled to participate. All opinions will automatically reach the EC. “Write your message to communicate to policymakers that you oppose weakening and eliminating environmental legislation,” they encourage.

“Nature is under attack”

The promoters of the campaign ‘Hands off nature’ want to show that we are at a critical moment regarding environmental protection and openly state that “nature is under attack.” The pressure from lobbies in traditional sectors, the influence of political and business interests, or the perception that environmental regulation harms competitiveness and economic growth are factors that, among others, are fostering a weakening of environmental policies, also in the EU.

In this context fits the public consultation promoted by the EC, the environmental organizations note, both in terms of the date set, in the middle of summer, and the short time frame to participate in the participatory process, “highlight that the true intention of the consultation is not to generate a real space for participation,” and it adds “to the lack of information about specific proposals and regulations.”

At a serious moment like the one we are living, dismantling —under the false promise of simplification— the laws that protect the environment and health is the worst possible decision, warns the campaign. Following this path will not only harm nature but will have direct consequences on the health and daily life of people.

For example, weaker regulation on pollution from factories and farms will allow hazardous chemicals to end up in our food, water, and air, harming our health and increasing costs that households will ultimately have to pay. Likewise, the destruction of forests, rivers, wetlands, and other natural habitats will eliminate natural defenses against extreme phenomena such as floods, heatwaves, and storms, while green spaces that allow people to reconnect with nature disappear.

Act now to avoid reaching a point of no return

For all these reasons, the campaign promoters insist that, if a rollback is made and these laws are weakened, which took decades to build, it will be almost impossible to recover them. “We must make ourselves heard now, before it is too late,” they urge. And here citizen action plays a key role, crucial to counteract the intention of the consultation launched by the EC.

“Launching a consultation with such a simple question about such an important and complex topic, without mentioning which specific regulations or directives will be affected, and in a process of continuous improvement and development, as is European legislation, particularly environmental legislation, in any case, does not serve a goal that pursues a common good,” the initiative concludes.

Furthermore, on the website created for the campaign, the organizations demand that European policymakers keep current environmental protections intact, reject any attempt to dilute them, and respect scientific evidence as well as the voice of citizens. “Nature protection laws have already demonstrated their effectiveness and are essential to prevent irreversible damage, protect people’s health and well-being, and ensure a sustainable future,” they stress.

If citizens do not take action now to defend the environment and the dismantling of environmental laws is allowed, we may have to start thinking about how this step back will be justified to the generations who will suffer the consequences of a worsening climate crisis in the future.