Brussels, 14/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Only a few days before the start of the 10 world biodiversity conference (COP 10, Nagoya, Japan, 18-29 October), EU environment ministers meeting in Luxembourg did not hold back on their level of ambition in the hope that the EU will be able to be a driving force in the international negotiations.
Things have come to a serious pass, since, far from ceasing, biodiversity loss caused by human activity is continuing an unprecedented speed which is expected to increase further over the course of this century, member states point out in alarm. There must, then be a new ambitious objective for 2020 with a strategic plan for achieving this target: the conclusion of a binding protocol on access to genetic resources and sharing the advantages of their use; and the mobilisation of sufficient financial resources to halt the decline in global biodiversity in 10 years. These are the main challenges to satisfy the high expectations of developing countries.
The EU will not, however, put any new money on the table at Nagoya, its contribution to the global effort being already estimated at some €900 million per year. The unanimous conclusions adopted in Luxembourg on 14 October will deemed to be the EU negotiating mandate, in that they finalise the mandate already endorsed at the highest level by the European Council of 15 March.
A balance has to be found between the ambitious strategic plan and increased mobilisation of resources but, to take account of the recession, no new money will be put on the table, said Joke Schievliege, the Belgian minister who chaired the discussions, going on to say that a multilateral, innovative funding mechanism had to be found.
The Council called on the EU to support efforts which encourage development of viable funding plans through innovative financial mechanisms for both public and private funding, and highlighted the importance of the withdrawal and reallocation of subsidies which can lead to harm to the environment and recompense for ecosystemic services.
The environment ministers called on the Commission to continue to communicate the funding allocated to the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, both within the EU and at world level. It called, too, for increased responsibility of essential sectors (agriculture, food safety, forestry, fishing, mining and energy, planning, transport, tourism, trade and development) to integrate determinedly concerns related to biodiversity.
What is at stake in these negotiations is huge, sinec, after the failure of the objectives set in Johannesburg in 2002, Nagoya will be a test of credibility of the international communities ability to slow the decline of biodiversity, and the EU's ability to halt this decline, with 10-year ground to make up. (A.N./transl.rt)