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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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The European Union, Brazil and the United States are all facing major setbacks in legal environmental protection efforts as some legislators are pushing back against laws aimed at safeguarding biodiversity, indigenous forests and wetlands.

The European Union plans to restore damaged natural ecosystems are hanging in the balance after the EU Parliament’s biggest lawmaker group walked out of negotiations on the rules.

European People’s Party (EPP) lawmakers walked out of negotiations on the proposal, which would set binding targets to restore damaged natural environments. The group said its concerns – which include that the law would reduce food production in Europe – had not been addressed.

A general view of the plenary session at EU parliament in Brussels, Belgium May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The proposal aims to tackle a rapid decline in species numbers and in the health of Europe’s ecosystems. But it has sparked a fierce political debate, with leaders including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo questioning whether the EU is pushing through too much environmental regulation and tangling industries in red tape.

Still, a majority of EU lawmakers could block the legislation. The EPP represents only 177 of the parliament’s roughly 700 lawmakers, meaning it would need backing from other groups to sink it.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament also sought to water down groundbreaking EU rules that would require large companies to check whether their suppliers abuse human rights or damage the environment.

Over in Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suffered a major defeat over important legislation protecting the Amazon rainforest and the Indigenous people who live in it, having to cut his losses in a conservative Congress.

Lawmakers backed by the powerful farm lobby in this agricultural powerhouse voted 283-155 to pass a bill that would limit the recognition of new Indigenous reservations, a decision seen by environmentalists and human rights advocates as a setback.

The law passed on Tuesday would set a cut-off date for recognizing Indigenous land claims, establishing that they had to be occupied before Brazil’s current Constitution was enacted in 1988.

The proposal set off protests by Indigenous groups. Outside Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, demonstrators blocked a major motorway with flaming tires and used bows and arrows to confront police, who dispersed them with tear gas.

And finally, over in the United States, the Supreme Court has delivered a one-two punch against the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to combat air and water pollution in twin rulings that cloud future EPA regulatory moves, according to legal experts.

Rulings last week and in June 2022 constrained the EPA’s regulatory powers over protected wetlands and the emissions of greenhouse gasses from power plants.

Environmental groups decried the decisions as putting the interests of polluting industries and landowners ahead of public health and the environment. Many Republicans and conservatives lauded the rulings as necessary checks on the power of federal agencies and unelected officials.

Amazon workers participate in a walkout at Amazon Headquarters, in Seattle, Washington, U.S., May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight

Paula Phelan, chief operating officer at U.S-based public relations firm, Intelligent Relations, shares her thoughts on how businesses can respond to mounting anti-ESG efforts:

“Most corporations recognize that investing in the environment and the health of the planet benefits the bottom line. 

“Then why are so many businesses hesitant in providing their full-throated support? Numerous studies including a recent one by the UN have shown that Environmental Sustainability Governance is good for business and actually boosts shareholder value.

“One contributing factor is fear of a political backlash, which could be overcome with a proactive response plan. 

“After the initial plunge into environmental conservancy your stakeholders will be appreciative. 

“The greater the transparency and third-party validation the more your company will become a trusted business appreciated by your local and global customers, employees, and neighbors. A business of interest to the media with a good story to tell.”

Breakingviews: The world is drowning in waste, but demand for durable polymers is soaring. This may change if UN talks to end plastic pollution by 2040 succeed in introducing a levy. That will shrink a bonus market for Big Oil and cut packaging firms’ margins. This may be behind a paywall. Register for more.

An eight-year-old male African lion rests on the plains of Kafue National Park, Zambia, September 19, 2020. Courtesy of Sebastian Kennerknecht/Handout via REUTERS

Today’s ESG Spotlight takes us to Zambia and the United States, where an innovative vulture surveillance system is protecting lions from poachers in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, while landowners in California are being taught how to live with wildfires.

Lion and leopard populations in Zambia’s Kafue National Park are showing signs of a modest comeback following decades of poaching, helped by expanded protection strategies, including an innovative vulture early-warning system.

Big cat densities across Kafue, measured broadly for the first time by global conservation organization Panthera, remained stable and in some cases increased from 2018 to 2022, according to a new report shared exclusively with Reuters.

Volunteer David Palmer, broadcast burn in advance of wildfire season near Blodgett Forest Research Station in Georgetown, California, U.S., May 20, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

The prescribed burn begins on a California hill with a drip torch to light brush, needles and fallen branches, the flames spreading out on the forest floor far below the tree canopy.

Teaching locals is exactly what Susie Kocher is hoping to accomplish through the El Dorado Amador Prescribed Burn Association. Founded in 2021, the association teaches private landowners about prescribed burns, including how to plan and carry them out safely.

“Most people still don’t know what ESG really means. This includes many politicians and senior business leaders, and this has to change.”

Chris Bennett, founder of UK-based sustainable real-estate investment consultancy, Evora Global

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