UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the EU Nature Restoration Law: Opportunities to support Europe’s restoration ambition

This high-level session will aim to explore the synergies between the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the achievement of Europe’s global and regional ecosystem restoration ambition, with a particular focus on targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the EU Nature Restoration Regulation.

The current decade running from 2021 to 2030 has been declared by the UN as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The UN Decade is building a global movement to inspire and support collaborative action from all actors, including governments, NGOs, academia, local communities and the private sector, to implement effective restoration initiatives that deliver for both nature and people. To do this, the UN Decade is helping restoration actors across the world to identify the knowledge, projects, partners, and funding they need to support restoration action on the ground. The UN Decade is therefore expected to help achieve multiple societal goals, including those under the UN CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (particularly Target 2 on restoration), the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and the Sustainable Development Goals. There are many best practices and cross-country collaboration efforts already emerging from the ten World Restoration Flagship initiatives that could be relevant for European countries as they develop their National Restoration Plans in the upcoming years. Understanding the linkages and synergies between the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and these global and regional goals can help ensure that the activities, resources and opportunities generated through the UN Decade are effectively used to meet social, environmental and economic targets.