Scientists concern over the rollback on the Green Deal

Dear Commission-President Von der Leyen, dear EVP Maroš Šefčovič, dear Commissioner Wojciechowski, dear Commissioner Sinkevičius,

In the open letter attached hereby, science associations and networks across Europe express our critic of European decision-makers for a series of decisions that undermine the EU's environmental agenda and international obligations, resulting in an overall attack on the Green Deal, on nature, and the future of EU citizens.

While EU policymakers claim that the measures are taken in response to farmers' protests, we highlight that the decisions are poorly justified, do not address the problems they are claiming to solve, but at the same time, they go against substantive scientific evidence against them. Especially we highlight the severity of rejecting the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR), weakening basic environmental standards in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), halting the final approval of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), as well as the Commission's proposal for exemptions in the Nitrate Directive, and the Commission's decision to shelve the Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS).

The scientific community regards these decisions as poorly justified and jeopardising the future of EU citizens. We express grave concern that, being only selected examples out of a longer list, they represent an overall spirit of rollback of environmental standards and regulations, some of which being the outcomes of tens of years of efforts strongly supported by science and society.

As we state in the letter, In a period of multiple crises, mostly resulting from breaching planetary boundaries, we find it unacceptable that European governors opt to worsen the conditions that drive these crises". "As scientists, we strongly oppose policy choices that accelerate avoidable crises. We call policymakers to set a clear and ambitious agenda for environmental protection and the Green Deal for the post-election era; consult with scientists to avoid acting on the basis of misinformation; take back changes within the CAP; urgently approve the NRL; and avoid further watering down of environmental regulations and policies.

We would highly appreciate if you can allocate the time to set up a meeting with scientists at the nearest possible point. You may read the full letter attached 

Sincerely,

• The Society for Conservation Biology - Europe Region
• Scientists for Future (Interdisciplinary Scientific Panel)
• The Society for Ecological Restoration Europe
• ALTER-Net
• Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland
• European Ecological Federation
• Netherlands Ecological Research Network
• EuropeForNature Ecosystem Services Partnership – European region
• The International Mire Conservation Group
• Society of Wetland Scientists