#HandsOffNature petition: 1.25 million signatures delivered to Commission to protect EU nature laws

The #HandsOffNature coalition, comprising BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, the European Environmental Bureau and WWF EU, submitted a petition with 1,254,722 signatures to Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall on 23 October 2026.

The handover took place outside the Commission’s headquarters in Brussels. The signatories want the EU to preserve its legislation on nature and water, in particular the Birds and Habitats Directives and the Water Framework Directive.

Launched in February 2026, the petition passed 600,000 signatures in August and 900,000 at the end of September. It is backed by more than 230 organisations across Europe.

The coalition asks the Commission to:
• conclude its stress test of the Birds and Habitats Directives with a plan to strengthen their implementation;
• abandon the…