The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 will be presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 20 May and will be part of the Covid-19 post-pandemic economic recovery plan based on the European Green Deal. The Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, confirmed this, to the European Parliament's Committee on Environment on Tuesday 12 May.
“I assure you that it will contain ambitious and realistic targets to address the challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change. This strategy will be a key element of the recovery plan in reconciling nature and the economy and, above all, in building our future resilience to future pandemics”, he said.
The key aspects and target figures of this strategy were unveiled in a recent version of the text, which has yet to be approved by the College of Commissioners (see EUROPE 12483/10).
Without going further on the target figures, the Commissioner said the strategy will contain EU actions and commitments to increase protection of land and seas and to restore degraded ecosystems.
It will set in motion system-wide changes to tackle the key drivers of biodiversity loss, both in green and blue ecosystems, such as unsustainable use of land, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, and invasive alien species.
In doing so, the strategy will enable the EU to defend an ambitious position at the UN summit in September (New York) and at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15, Kunming), according to Mr Sinkevičius.
Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France) invited the Commission to draw inspiration from the European Parliament resolution calling for binding targets (see EUROPE 12405/4). The Commissioner assured members that this will be given due consideration.
A strategy with farmers, not against them
Alexander Bernhuber (EPP, Austria), who had hoped the strategy would be postponed until autumn, said the draft focuses disproportionately on agriculture and contains no approach for involving cities and citizens. He furthermore said that the forestry strategy must support sustainable exploitation without imposing new constraints.
The Commissioner said he was aware of the constraints on a sector that has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is why I will do everything to ensure that we implement the Biodiversity Strategy with our farmers, not against them. I want them to be part of the positive transformation that the Biodiversity Strategy will bring. But let me be very clear: I am truly convinced that the pandemic makes the adoption of an ambitious Biodiversity Strategy more urgent than ever”, replied Mr Sinkevičius.
Farmers are indeed the first to suffer from soil degradation and groundwater pollution, he noted. Moreover, pest control is an objective of the future strategy. And Mr Sinkevičius said he is convinced that in the future it will be possible to “combine sustainability and profitability” in agriculture. The future Common Agricultural Policy will provide specific support for farmers, he said.
Furthermore, the Commissioner stressed the need to involve all actors - citizens, businesses, social partners - and to encourage partnerships at European, national, regional and local level to make this strategy a reality. According to him, the Commission would like to “bring nature closer to cities and help cities develop urban plans with parks and urban forests”.
Jytte Guteland (S&D, Sweden) asked whether the targets, which will be set for reducing pesticide use in agriculture, will take into account both volumes and concentrations. Targets will be based on “volume and risk”, the Commissioner promised. He reassured Silvia Modi (GUE/NGL, Italy) that these targets will be binding, not voluntary as the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture is asking for.
Finally, the Commissioner indicated that the ‘zero pollution’ action plan was being developed. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)