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How corporate advocacy helped secure the EU’s new Nature Restoration Law

Business involvement in the EU’s landmark nature legislation elevates policy advocacy as a powerful tool that more companies should integrate into their sustainability strategies. Read More

(Updated on September 16, 2024)
A photograph of the EU parliament during the vote on the new nature restoration law.
Business leaders successfully argued that failing to restore ecosystems would lead to even bigger risks and costs in the long term. Source: European Parliament

The European Union’s Nature Restoration Law, a landmark piece of legislation that requires restoring 20 percent of the continent’s land and marine ecosystems by 2030 and paves the way for broader restoration for the long-term recovery of nature in the region, was passed in June.

The new law was controversial until its final adoption, and business advocacy was essential to its passage. Its targets will contribute to reaching the Global Biodiversity Framework (now also known as the Biodiversity Plan) adopted during COP 15 in Montreal. 

Businesses’ role in passing the Nature Restoration Law provides valuable insights into how companies can constructively engage in policy advocacy. And it illustrates why policy engagement should be a more central component of corporate sustainability strategies. 

Companies confirmed that protecting nature is good for the economy

Much of the debate around the Nature Restoration Law focused on its economic and food security impacts. Conservative political parties and farmers’ groups were concerned that re-designating land from agricultural or other commercial use to conservation would exacerbate the economic struggles many landowners already face.

Campaigns from scientists and large European businesses, such as Nestlé, H&M and Ikea, were instrumental in addressing these concerns. They clarified that not protecting biodiversity would lead to even more severe challenges in the future due to further loss of ecosystem services such as pollination, water filtration and temperature regulation. 

In June 2022, the European Commission published an impact assessment of the law that concluded that every Euro invested in restoration would deliver a return of between EUR 8 and EUR 38, depending on the ecosystem. In comparison, it found that the region was already paying over EUR 50 billion per year for costs associated with degraded soils. 

The power of business leaders to confirm this impact assessment and publicly reiterate the business risks of inaction, alongside the opportunities found in restoration, helped sway EU legislators, said Noor Yafai, Europe director of global policy and institutional partnerships at the Nature Conservancy. 

Public support from businesses also reassured center and right-wing policymakers debating the law’s costs and benefits that they wouldn’t be left alone in managing the law’s impacts. “It created an expectation for policymakers that [businesses] would be able to take on accountability as well,” said Adeline Rochet, programme manager for the Corporate Leaders Group Europe of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. 

Teaming up for effective policy advocacy

Companies’ level of and channels for engagement with sustainability legislation depends on the company’s business model, its comfort with controversial public debates and its team capacity and expertise, among other things. 

Joining an industry association or cross-sectoral coalition such as the Corporate Leaders Group can be a good first step toward taking action. It de-risks engagement by making joint statements with other companies, ensures that messaging is aligned and offers companies support from experts who know their way around Brussels (or Washington, D.C.) without having to bring on board additional internal resources. 

Rochet, who facilitates the Corporate Leaders Group, and Yafai, who worked closely with industry associations in the power sector, mentioned three strategies as particularly impactful: 

  • Joint statement letters that explain business support for the law
  • Practical case studies from member companies that provide examples of how nature restoration activities strengthen their businesses
  • Roundtables and debates with policymakers and key civil society stakeholder groups where business representatives shared their perspectives 

While not many companies were comfortable putting their full weight behind the law, it did make sense for those who would reap direct benefits to dig in deeper and experiment with additional advocacy tactics. The Landbanking Group, a German technology startup enabling investments in nature restoration and conservation, was one such example. 

Its co-founder, Martin Stuchtey, is a widely recognized sustainability thought leader and actively advanced the law by building alliances with politicians, supporting an open letter with 6000 scientists, speaking in public debates, participating in an expert hearing and posting on social media.  

Next step: Embracing consistency across jurisdictions

While the Nature Restoration Law was specific to the European market, the drivers and solutions of the biodiversity crisis don’t stop at political borders. 

Companies should consider how they can work toward consistent advocacy efforts across their jurisdictions as a next step. “It would be great to see businesses sending the same signals to legislators in other countries to create a more compelling investment case,” said The Nature Conservancy’s Yafai. This could help companies transform their supply chains more quickly, for example, when it comes to commodities such as soy and cocoa that have long led to deforestation outside of Europe. 

Even though the legislative and business environment in the United States is quite different from Europe’s, Stuchtey believes that U.S.-based companies would also benefit from advocating for nature in front of their policymakers. This could create a fairer environment for sectors such as home insurance in Florida that are already heavily affected by ecosystem loss. “There are many honest companies trying to do their best, but it’s hard to compete against those who are not considering the importance of soil, water, and other resources.” 

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