The first meeting of EU Environment Ministers under the Slovenian Presidency, to be held informally on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 July in Brdo pri Kranju, will be devoted to the EU’s contribution to the global response to the closely related climate and biodiversity crises, for which it intends to take the lead in the forthcoming international negotiations, setting an example internally against the backdrop of the European Green Deal.
Climate
The meeting will start with a discussion of the new legislative package proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday 14 July to achieve a reduction in the EU’s net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, while putting the EU on a path to climate neutrality by 2050 (‘Fit for 55’ package) (see EUROPE 12762/1).
The discussion, which will be attended by the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, will be an opportunity for some ministers to express their concerns about certain aspects of the package, in particular the proposal to create a new emissions trading scheme (ETS) for road transport and buildings (see EUROPE 12764/11).
The ministers will then discuss preparations for the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP26, to be held in Glasgow in November (see EUROPE 12745/15).
Biodiversity
On Wednesday, the ministers will exchange views in preparation for the fifteenth conference of the parties to the International Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, COP15 scheduled tentatively for Kunming, China in October) where a post-2020 global biodiversity framework is to be adopted as a stepping stone to the 2050 vision of ‘Living in harmony with nature’. They will also exchange views on the next steps for the EU pollinator initiative, adopted in 2018.
In line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 presented in May 2020 (see EUROPE 12737/5, 12491/2) and the EU Council Conclusions of 19 December 2019 and 23 October 2020 on the urgency to act, the EU and its Member States will lead and intensify efforts against biodiversity loss and strongly contribute to the adoption of an ambitious and realistic post-2020 global framework with, as far as possible, measurable targets and indicators, the Slovenian Presidency underlines in a background document.
COP15 was originally scheduled to take place in October 2020. The preliminary draft UN text published in January 2020 has been replaced by a more elaborate draft, published on 12 July. It defines goals for 2050 as well as 10 interim milestones and 21 targets for 2030, related to the following points: - reducing threats to biodiversity; - meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit sharing; - tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming.
Under the guidance of the Slovenian Presidency, the ministers will be invited to answer the following questions:
- what are your preliminary views on the first draft of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, especially on its strengths and on the improvements needed to ensure policy impact and implementation?
- how can the EU best contribute to the successful conclusion of the CBD negotiations and to the achievement of an ambitious global framework, including on biodiversity financing and synergies with climate change policy?
In addition, EU Environment Commissioner Virginius Sinkevičius will present to ministers the European Commission’s report, published on 27 May, on the implementation of the EU Pollinator Initiative, showing that efforts need to be stepped up to tackle the various drivers of insect declines crucial to ecosystem health - in particular habitat loss in agricultural landscapes and the effects of pesticides (see EUROPE 12728/8, 12500/13).
Ministers will exchange views on the main challenges in reinforcing the EU action and on how an EU-wide monitoring framework for pollinators should be established to support the enhanced action.
Better conservation of pollinators in the EU can also contribute to the ambition of leading by example at national and regional level and thus strongly contribute to the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, the Slovenian Presidency stresses.
See the draft COP15 text: https://bit.ly/36OBJ8S (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Damien Genicot)