The EU-27 Environment Ministers, the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council, and the European Commission consider the first draft of the UN text published on 12 July on the future post-2020 framework for global biodiversity to be a good starting point, but that it needs to be significantly fleshed out in the negotiations that will resume on 23 August and continue until the expected adoption of a global framework toward the end of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15, second phase) in spring 2022.
A consensus was reached on this issue on 21 July, on the second day of the informal ministerial meeting in Brdo dedicated to the preparations for COP15 as well as to the challenges related to the necessary protection of pollinators - including wild pollinators - a subject close to the heart of Slovenia, initiator of World Bee Day (see EUROPE 12765/6).
For COP15, the EU and its Member States already committed last year to lead by example and to contribute to an ambitious post-2020 framework with key objectives for 2050 and targets by 2030.
Slovenian Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak stressed that as a country with a rich environment and the largest coverage by the Natura 2000 network in the EU, Slovenia is striving to keep biodiversity high on the global agenda, with the support of the European Commission and the Member States.
“The biodiversity situation is worsening all over the world. Therefore we need swift and radical transformation. We need greater ambition to achieve tangible results that will enable us to stop biodiversity loss. We have to enable the restoration of natural ecosystems and decrease the risk of future pandemics and climate crises”, he said after the meeting.
According to Mr Vizjak, the ministers agreed on the following requirements: - strengthening the future framework and further integrating biodiversity into other sectoral policies and society as a whole; - focusing on the implementation of activities that will achieve the objectives; - mobilising more financial resources for biodiversity conservation in both developed and developing countries; - ensuring that all efforts to conserve biodiversity and combat climate change are “connected and joint”.
“It is absolutely relevant in our view to talk not only about targets, but also about how to implement them and how best to link biodiversity to the fight against climate change. We need nature-based solutions. We want them to be more prominent in the strategy for the next decade”, German Minister Jochen Flasbarth told the press.
In the opinion of Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, the draft text contains some good things, including the target of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030, but it needs to be improved.
He wants to see: - more ambition for the restoration of degraded marine areas; - stricter monitoring of sustainable use, particularly in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and a clear target to encourage agroecology and other biodiversity-friendly practices; - a stronger reference to nature-based solutions - a reference that should underpin the whole text; - the integration of biodiversity and the value of nature “into all our policies and economic sectors”.
“We will defend all these points to obtain an ambitious result at COP15”, he assured.
Protection of pollinators. Ministers discussed ways to establish an EU-wide monitoring framework as part of the possible strengthening of the EU Bees Initiative. Commissioner Sinkevičius said that “urgent action” is needed. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)