Brussels, 16/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Margot Wallström, Environment Commissioner, will be in Madrid early next week where she will, on 19 January, attend the third pan-European international conference on biodiversity in Europe, in preparation for the 7th conference of the parties of the United Nations framework convention on biodiversity to be held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from 9 to 27 February (the ministerial session of this international conference wil be held from 17 to 19 February). The Commissioner will seize the opportunity afforded by her presence in Spain to go to the Donaña national park on Tuesday where she plans to gain information on the ecological disaster that occurred there in 1998.
During a press conference on Friday, Ms Wallström said that she is one of those who think that crying wolf is dangerous for environmental policy, but, on the question of biodiversity, the time has come to appeal for greater awareness and to sound the alarm. Earth, she said, is losing its ability to sustain life. Today, 40% of bird and butterfly species are threatened with extinction, including the commonest. Birds are the most eloquent indicator, she explained. These issues must be given maximum visibility and it must be determined, she said, what can be done in concrete terms to reach our objective. This is the message that the Commisisoner will deliver in Madrid where she plans to explain the importance of biodiversity according to the theory of the three E's - by looking at the ethical, emotional and environmental aspects of the issue, as well as the economic aspects. The loss of habitats is mainly linked to agricultural policies, tourism and fishing, in the way that we use the soil or exploit the woodlands, and to climate change, she said. The EU has a clear goal: that of stopping the move toward the loss of biodiversity by 2010, she continued, and the internatioal goal is to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The Commissioner recalled, however, that efforts deployed so far have not been bold enough. It is appropriate, she said, to better define the responsibilities of governments (regarding education and information, the protection of natural sites, technology transfer and national strategies) and the instruments to be used. Margot Wallström felt in this respect that one of the priorities will be to reach agreement on “how to use indicators”. This point is on the agenda of the work of the international conference in Kuala Lumpur.