The scale of the draft EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 has gone up a notch, judging by a version of the text seen by EUROPE that is much more elaborate (at 29 pages) than the March version (see EUROPE 12422/1). And with good reason: the Covid-19 pandemic takes its rightful place in the communication that the Commission is preparing to present on 20 May, according to its provisional timetable.
As part of the European Green Deal to help solve the urgent crisis of biodiversity, a crisis as serious as that of climate change, this future strategy will have to be part of the post-Covid recovery plan, warns the institution. And to make it clear what is at stake, it focusses both on the links between the destruction of biodiversity and pandemics and on the value of the ecosystems delivered by biodiversity for the economy as a whole.
"The risk of disease outbreaks, including pandemics, increases as nature is destroyed. The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has raised awareness on the interrelations between our health, ecosystems, supply chains, consumption patterns and planetary boundaries", highlights the institution.
It also notes that almost half of the world's GDP, some €40 trillion, depends on nature and the services it provides, and that the construction, agriculture and food sectors, which together generate almost €7.3 trillion in the economy, are all highly dependent on nature.
"A healthy and biodiversity-rich planet is an absolute precondition for business to thrive and for the economy to recover from a crisis such as the Covid-19 crisis", says the Commission.
Accordingly, the strategy intends to address the five drivers of biodiversity loss: land and sea use change, overexploitation of resources and organisms, climate change, pollution and invasive non-native species.
Restore at least 30% of marine and terrestrial areas. The Commission intends the EU to create a genuine trans-European network of protected areas with a binding percentage of at least 30% of marine and terrestrial areas (whereas previously it had only envisaged a maximum of 30%).
To this obligation would be added the indicative objective of ensuring strict protection for one third of the entire network of protected areas - representing 10% of EU territory and 10% of EU seas - including primary forests, which will need to be mapped and vigilantly monitored.
At this stage, the Commission intends to present binding nature restoration targets for seagrass meadows, wetlands, peatlands, bogs and marshes, semi-natural grasslands, old-growth forests and primary forests, in 2021, following an impact assessment.
The Member States, for their part, will have to commit themselves to ensuring that at least 30% of species and habitats that are not in a favourable state are so by 2030, or at least show a marked positive trend. However, this objective will not be binding. Member States should notify the Commission by 2021 of the species and habitats in poor condition and the measures they intend to take.
A halving of the use and risks of pesticides. With regard to pesticides in agriculture, the Commission is aiming for a 50% reduction in the use and risks of chemical pesticides by 2030 and a 50% reduction in the risk of high-risk pesticides.
It also sets the objective of bringing back at least 10% of utilised agriculture area under high diversity landscapes, and at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land must be under organic farming by 2030 - as part of the future action plan on this subject.
To consult the communication project: https://bit.ly/3dpnKaU (Original version in French by Aminata Niang with Lionel Changeur)