Europe, don't turn your back on nature

The #HandsoffNature coalition, comprising BirdLife Europe & Central Asia, ClientEarth, the European Environmental Bureau, and WWF, warns that the European Commission is dismantling core environmental protections under the guise of reducing administrative burdens. The coalition highlights the economic and human costs of climate-induced disasters, noting that droughts, floods, and heatwaves caused €43 billion in damages in a single summer, with projected losses reaching €126 billion by 2029. They specifically criticize the proposed revisions to the Water Framework Directive and the draft Omnibus Regulation on Food and Feed, asserting that these moves favor mining and agrifood lobbies over public health and ecological stability. Furthermore, the coalition points to findings by the EU Ombudswoman that the Commission bypassed democratic processes and transparency in previous regulatory actions.

• The European Commission is pursuing a deregulation agenda that the #HandsoffNature coalition describes as a rollback of environmental protections, specifically targeting sustainability reporting, farming obligations, anti-deforestation rules, and the Water Framework Directive.
• The draft Omnibus Regulation on Food and Feed is identified as a threat to public health and the environment due to its aim to deregulate chemical pesticides.
• Recent climate-induced disasters in Europe have resulted in significant financial losses and human fatalities, with damages totaling €43 billion this summer and projected to rise to €126 billion by 2029. Additionally, heat waves caused approximately 16,500 deaths during the same period.
• The EU Ombudswoman found that the European Commission used an unjustified emergency procedure to bypass democratic processes, transparency, and scientific basis regarding corporate sustainability and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
• Industry lobbies, particularly from the mining and agrifood sectors, are driving the push for deregulation by claiming it will increase competitiveness and reduce administrative burdens.

APA

Puymartin, A., Berthier, A., Bas-Defossez, F., & Baumüller, A. (2025). Europe, don't turn your back on nature. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/europe-don-t-turn-your-back-on-nature/

Chicago

Puymartin, Anouk, Anaïs Berthier, Faustine Bas-Defossez, and Andreas Baumüller. Europe, don't turn your back on nature. ClientEarth, 2025. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/europe-don-t-turn-your-back-on-nature/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Puymartin |first1=Anouk |last2=Berthier |first2=Anaïs |last3=Bas-Defossez |first3=Faustine |last4=Baumüller |first4=Andreas |title=Europe, don't turn your back on nature |publisher=ClientEarth |date=9 December 2025 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/europe-don-t-turn-your-back-on-nature/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{puymartin2025europe, author = {Puymartin, Anouk and Berthier, Anaïs and Bas-Defossez, Faustine and Baumüller, Andreas}, title = {{Europe, don't turn your back on nature}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/europe-don-t-turn-your-back-on-nature/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }