Environmental News of the Month: February

The EU Parliament adopts Nature Restoration Law, energy co-ops in Greece and how swamp cities can replace concrete jungles!

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In this monthly update, we want to continue to spread positive climate news. Reading the news and learning about all that goes wrong in the world can be such a paralyzing experience. Thinking positively is what encourages action, so we want to share them with you to cultivate the right mindset for much needed action. These good news will not only include rewilding and nature conservation, but every step towards a more sustainable, greener future. Here are our good news of the month:

EU Parliament Votes for the EU Nature Restoration Law

In a pretty close decision, the European Parliament has voted in favor of the EU Nature Restoration Law, a key law for the EU Green New Deal. After many debates, Europe now set some concrete goals for restoring natural habitats: by 2030, 20% of the ecosystem should be restored, both on land and sea. This goal extends to the restoration of all ecosystems by 2050. Now only the member states have to adopt the law into their national guidelines. We have the background and criticism on the law here.

Energy Democracy enters Greece

Greece is one of the sunniest countries in Europe, and it also experiences a considerable amount of wind. Thus, it possesses the potential to generate a significant amount of renewable energy. Still, it only has a share of 20% renewables in their total energy generation. Now, the first Greek energy cooperative allows people to take matters into their own hands. Members of the cooperative produce their own energy through a collectively owned solar field. All decisions are made democratically, and the returns are equally shared among the 130 members. This is a perfect example of involving people in building a greener future! Read more.

Globally, sponge cities are on the rise

Concrete jungle is still the reality for many cities across the globe – without any space for plants or wildlife to be part of urban areas. And equally as bad is the fact that in heavy rainfalls, the water can not seep anywhere – causing floods. But awareness about a re-design are on the rise. London started encouraging its citizens to depave their gardens, Leuven in Belgium is starting to remove asphalt wherever possible. Aditionally, Kiel in Germany is checking depaving all the parking lots in the city. To bring more green into cities and make them more resilient agains both heat and heavy rainfall, this seems to be a good idea. 🙂 To find out about rewilding as nature’s answer to flooding, check out our blog post here! These are our good news to start the year in a positive way! Not only will there be good news, but also other posts on rewilding, nature restoration, and a community-based approach to creating an NGO. So, stick around to stay up to date!