The transformative potential of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law

Restoration of nature is spreading as a practice and policy approach. The European Union (EU) has not only promoted restoration, but made it an obligation with the Nature Restoration Law. This Comment evaluates the law for its potential to achieve the needed transformation. The law is not inherently disruptive of established approaches to nature conservation that have largely failed to stop nature’s decline. However, its interpretation and implementation can become transformative by tackling root causes of nature’s decline, advancing the restoration of human relationships with nature, and incorporating democratic participation and justice. We hope to inform how legal restoration targets can be translated into concrete actions by countries within and beyond the EU.