Press release

1.25 million tell the EU: stop weakening nature laws

23 October 2026

  • 1,254,722 people from across the EU have signed the #HandsOffNature petition, calling on the European Commission not to weaken Europe’s nature and environmental laws

  • The coalition handed the signatures to Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall today, on the Commission’s doorstep in Brussels

Today, the #HandsOffNature coalition, made up of BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, the European Environmental Bureau and WWF EU, handed a petition signed by 1,254,722 people to Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall at the Schuman roundabout, outside the Commission’s headquarters. 

Their message is simple: keep the laws that protect Europe’s wildlife, water and health intact. Above all, the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Water Framework Directive.

Support has grown fast. In August, 600,000 people had signed. By the end of September, more than 900,000. Today, the petition closes at more than 1.25 million.

It comes as those laws face pressure from every direction. In December 2025, the Commission proposed the Environmental Omnibus, including new rules to speed up environmental checks on new projects. Last month, EU governments backed a version that would allow protected species to be killed or disturbed as a routine consequence of development, and their nests and eggs destroyed.

The Commission has also announced plans to revise the Water Framework Directive, the EU’s main law protecting rivers, lakes and groundwater. And it has opened a “stress test” of the Birds and Habitats Directives, even though its own 2016 Fitness Check found them fit for purpose, and despite alarming evidence on the state of Europe’s nature. 

Kaat runs a small communal farm near Antwerp. In ten years of farming, she has lived through record droughts, a deadly flood and 17 heatwaves. This summer, the heat damaged her tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, and the plants burned.

Kaat, farmer at Groenlof, said:

“We can no longer count on normal weather. Extreme weather is the new normal. Forests, wetlands and living rivers cool the land and store water. The worst thing we could do now is attacking the legal frameworks that protect the nature we have left.”

Dirk, a Belgian firefighter, has been on the front line of this summer’s extreme weather. 

Dirk, firefighter and militant at ACOD LRB, highlighted: 

“Every year, firefighters are injured. Every year, some do not come home. Nature does not negotiate.The laws of nature cannot be deregulated. When we weaken environmental protections, we do not remove risks. We simply transfer the costs to citizens, communities, emergency services, healthcare workers and future generations.”

The coalition is calling on the Commission to conclude its stress test of the Birds and Habitats Directives with a plan to boost their implementation, and to drop the planned revision of the Water Framework Directive. Instead of weakening Europe’s nature and water laws, the focus must be on making them work, with proper funding, staff and guidance for national authorities.

The handover took place around the only tree on Schuman square. The newly renovated roundabout is so bare that locals call it “Brussels’ frying pan”. The three-metre metal tree carried messages from signatories, engraved on its leaves, on why nature matters to them. The Commissioner received a leaf carrying one of those messages: one voice among more than 1.25 million.

ENDS

Notes to editors

  • The #HandsOffNature petition was launched in February 2026 and closed with 1,254,722 signatures from across EU member states.

  • The #HandsOffNature coalition is led by BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, the European Environmental Bureau and WWF EU, and is supported by more than 230 organisations across Europe.

  • Representatives of the coalition took part in the Commission’s implementation dialogue in the morning of 23 October with Commissioner Roswall. The majority of participants highlighted the need for better enforcement and implementation of the existing legislation, and not re-opening them. Journalists with questions about the dialogue are welcome to get in touch with the coalition.

About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account, and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. From our offices in Europe, Asia and the USA we shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.