Nature conservation, war damage in Ukraine and two UN meetings - COP15 on biodiversity and COP27 on climate - will dominate the informal meeting of the EU27 environment ministers in Prague on 13-14 July, hosted by the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. At the invitation of the Czech Minister, Anna Hubáčková, the Ukrainian Minister of Ecology, Ruslan Strilets, will participate in the part of the discussions on the environmental impact of the war in Ukraine.
Nature, biodiversity and COP15. The ministers will discuss the conclusions to be adopted at the formal meeting of the ‘Environment’ Council of the EU on 24 October, which will ensure a strong and ambitious EU position in Montreal, where the final segment of the fifteenth conference of the parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), which was to be held in October 2020 in China, will now be held later this year (5-7 December).
An agreement on an ambitious framework for global biodiversity is expected to be reached in Montreal.
The EU position was agreed at the end of 2020 (see EUROPE 12569/11, 12588/3). The political commitments of the Kunming Declaration of October 2021 closed the first segment of the COP15 (see EUROPE 12812/7).
However, little progress was made in Geneva and then most recently in Nairobi (21-26 June) in the run-up to Montreal (see EUROPE 12986/7).
The EU is defending: - ambitious, measurable and time-bound objectives, milestones and targets that will aim to ensure that all the planet’s ecosystems are restored, resilient and adequately protected by 2050; - a target to protect at least 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030, complemented by targets to address the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources; - operational arrangements for mobilising adequate funding and other means of implementation.
War in Ukraine and environmental destruction. Ministers will have an exchange of views. The deliberate targeting of industrial facilities leads to large-scale and long-term environmental degradation, the Czech Presidency stresses, and it is essential to map the environmental impacts of the conflict.
The EU27 ministers and their Ukrainian counterpart will be asked to consider what the EU and its Member States can offer in terms of expertise and assistance in environmental damage assessment and capacity building for environmental infrastructure.
To recall that since 24 June, Ukraine has been associated with the LIFE programme - the only EU financial instrument specifically dedicated to environmental, climate protection and clean energy projects - and will therefore be able to benefit from funds to restore its environment (see EUROPE 12979/17).
Biodiversity and climate. Ministers will exchange views on the promotion and restoration of functional ecosystems as a major contribution to climate change adaptation.
The EU is defending its Biodiversity Strategy 2030 presented in June 2020 (see EUROPE 12491/2) and its climate ambitions - including adaptation - are two sides of the same coin to combat two closely related crises.
The European Commission presented on 22 June a regulation setting binding nature restoration targets for at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea ecosystems (see EUROPE 12977/17).
Support for biodiversity protection and ecosystem restoration should go hand in hand with proper implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and a targeted approach to soil protection as well as an appropriate forestry strategy, the Czech Presidency stresses.
COP27 on climate. The ministers will have a discussion aimed at preparing the EU’s mandate for the 27th annual UN climate change conference (COP27), to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November 2022. The mandate will be adopted at the ‘Environment’ Council of the EU on 24 October. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)