UPSC Prelims 2025 Q90: Nature Restoration Law — Explained
Which organization has enacted the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss?
- The European Union
- The World Bank
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- The Food and Agriculture Organization
Answer: (a) The European Union
Statement-wise explanation
- a: correct — The Nature Restoration Law is Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Union. The European Parliament passed it on 27 February 2024 by 329 votes to 275. The Council of the EU gave final approval on 17 June 2024, and the law entered into force on 18 August 2024. It is binding on all EU member states.
- b: incorrect — The World Bank is a development lender. It funds projects, including landscape-restoration programmes, through loans and grants. It has no power to make law for any country, so it could not have enacted a regulation like the NRL.
- c: incorrect — The OECD is a forum of 38 market economies. It does research, publishes data and peer reviews, and sets recommendations and guidelines. It does not make binding environmental law for its members, and the NRL is not one of its instruments.
- d: incorrect — FAO works on ecosystem restoration. With UNEP, it leads the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), which the UN General Assembly proclaimed in 2019. But a UN Decade is a voluntary global movement, not a law, and FAO cannot legislate for states.
How to eliminate
Read the verb 'enacted'. A body can enact a law only if it has legislative power over its members. Among the four, only the European Union has this. It has a Parliament and a Council that make regulations, and EU regulations bind member states directly. The World Bank lends money. The OECD issues recommendations and guidelines. FAO runs programmes and sets voluntary standards. So basic knowledge of how these bodies work leaves only one option. The trap is FAO: it is linked with 'restoration' through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, but a Decade is not a law. Fact to remember: the Nature Restoration Law is Regulation (EU) 2024/1991, adopted in June 2024.
Know more
EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL)
The NRL is Regulation (EU) 2024/1991. It is the first EU-wide law that legally requires member states to restore damaged nature, not just protect what remains. It is part of the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.
Timeline
- 27 Feb 2024: European Parliament adopts it (329–275, 24 abstentions)
- 17 Jun 2024: Council of the EU gives final approval
- 18 Aug 2024: enters into force
- Member states must then submit National Restoration Plans
Key targets
| Area | Target |
|---|---|
| Overall | Restoration measures on at least 20% of EU land and sea by 2030; all ecosystems in need by 2050 |
| Habitats in poor condition | Restore 30% by 2030, 60% by 2040, 90% by 2050 |
| Drained peatlands | Restore 30% by 2030, 40% by 2040, 50% by 2050 |
| Rivers | At least 25,000 km restored to free-flowing |
| Trees | 3 billion additional trees |
| Farmland | Progress on 2 of 3 indicators: grassland butterfly index, high-diversity landscape features, soil organic carbon |
| Urban | Maintain green space and tree canopy cover |
The law includes an 'emergency brake'. Farmland targets can be paused temporarily in exceptional circumstances if they seriously threaten food production.
Global link. Target 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD, 2022) asks that at least 30% of degraded ecosystems be under effective restoration by 2030. The NRL is the EU's binding way of meeting it. Do not confuse it with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), which UNEP and FAO lead. The Decade is a voluntary movement, not a law.
In the news
The Council of the EU gave the Nature Restoration Law final approval on 17 June 2024, and it entered into force on 18 August 2024. It made headlines as the first binding law of its kind and after a close vote. In India, a December 2024 Parliament question also asked whether India should have a similar law.