Annexes to COM(2015)478 - Mid-term review of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2015)478 - Mid-term review of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2015)478  |
| date | October 2, 2015 |
The EU is the largest contributor to biodiversity-related official development assistance and has more than doubled funding between 2006 and 2013.
In order to regulate access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation, the EU ratified the Nagoya Protocol in 2014. New legislation has been adopted to regulate compliance measures, and an additional implementing act is being prepared.
The 2013 EU Timber Regulation aims to stop the circulation of illegally logged wood on the EU market. The EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Plan encourages trade in legal timber. There is a growing consumer preference for products from sustainably managed forests. Some progress has also been made on palm oil, but too little action has been taken regarding other commodities and the EU-28 footprint is over twice the size of its biocapacity.
Figure 6 — Ecological footprint per region of the world
Source: EEA (SEBI) 42
All recent EU free trade agreements have provisions on the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. The EU has also supported global efforts against wildlife trafficking, 43 including promoting progress towards the adoption of a comprehensive UN General Assembly Resolution on tackling illicit trafficking in wildlife. On 8 July 2015, the EU officially became a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Actions to biodiversity-proof EU development cooperation have been addressed through the mainstreaming of environment and climate change. A compulsory environmental screening for any new development cooperation action addresses potential impacts on protected or vulnerable areas, ecosystem services, the introduction of alien species, and the use of fertilisers, pesticides or other chemicals. Programming has paid special attention to the potential for biodiversity protection and improvement.
The EU and its Member States have played an active role in shaping the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Implementing these commitments in the EU and supporting their achievement on a global scale will help to advance towards meeting this target. Reaching the international target of doubling biodiversity-related funding flows to developing countries by 2015 and maintaining them until 2020, as well as increasing the effectiveness of funding, will require continued commitment, better prioritisation and coordination with other donors. Achieving EU objectives will require further action to address the EU ecological footprint, and the effective implementation of recently adopted policy and legislation, with particular focus on compliance under the Nagoya Protocol. More efforts are also needed to implement provisions on biodiversity in recent trade agreements, to further integrate biodiversity objectives into EU trade policies and to encourage initiatives to promote sustainable trade.
3. Horizontal measures
3.1.Financing
Insufficient financing was a major factor in the failure to reach the 2010 biodiversity target. Biodiversity aspects have been integrated to various degrees into European structural and investment funds, notably the common agricultural policy, cohesion policy funds and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. A robust analysis of the allocations to biodiversity will only be possible once all rural development and operational programmes are adopted. The LIFE programme remains a small but highly effective funding source for nature and biodiversity. It will also support innovative financing through the recently launched Natural Capital Financing Facility.
The Commission has developed a process to track biodiversity-related expenditure in the EU budget in order to estimate more accurately the integration of biodiversity in programming. 44 A methodology has also been developed to ‘biodiversity-proof’ the EU budget, to ensure that spending has no negative impacts but supports biodiversity objectives.
EU financing instruments are key in delivering on international biodiversity commitments, in particular through the Development and Cooperation Instrument and the European Development Fund, as well as under the Partnership Instrument. EU efforts to enhance resource mobilisation from these external instruments are enshrined in the ‘Biodiversity for Life’ flagship initiative (B4Life) launched in 2014.
3.2.Partnerships
There has been considerable progress in establishing partnerships and engaging stakeholders and civil society. The re-launched EU Business and Biodiversity Platform supports the active involvement of businesses in the strategy implementation. The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Territories of European Overseas (BEST) preparatory action contributes to the transition towards swift and easy access to funding for biodiversity protection and sustainable use of ecosystem services. The EU has also supported the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity initiative, both within the EU and in developing countries, and has encouraged synergies between the Convention on Biological Diversity and other conventions.
3.3.Strengthening the knowledge base
The knowledge and evidence base for EU biodiversity policy has been improved through streamlined reporting under the nature directives, and the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, recognised internationally as the most advanced regional assessment scheme under the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Research and innovation framework programmes have an important role in the assessment of ecosystem services, in synergy with other EU funds. Horizon 2020 supports integrated assessments and science-policy interfaces with a focus on nature-based solutions. Cohesion policy funding for research and innovation is another source of support. However, major gaps in data and knowledge remain, in particular concerning the marine environment, the assessment of ecosystem health and links to ecosystem services and resilience. The integration of — and open access to — data from biodiversity monitoring and reporting under relevant EU legislation (such as agriculture, fisheries, and regional policy) needs to be strengthened as a priority for the remainder of the implementation period. EU external instruments have resulted in the creation of regional observatories in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries for better informing the decision-makers in natural resource management.
4. Conclusion
The mid-term review assessing progress under the EU biodiversity strategy shows that the 2020 biodiversity targets can only be reached if implementation and enforcement efforts become considerably bolder and more ambitious. At the current rate of implementation, biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem services will continue throughout the EU and globally, with significant implications for the capacity of biodiversity to meet human needs in the future.
Progress has been made in establishing important policy frameworks: the new common fisheries policy, the Invasive Alien Species and Timber Regulations, and the introduction of biodiversity provisions in bilateral trade agreements, to name just a few. The reformed common agricultural policy provides opportunities for enhanced integration of biodiversity concerns but the extent of take-up by Member States will be decisive for success. The Commission has supported and complemented efforts made by Member States, regional and local authorities and stakeholders in enforcing environmental legislation, addressing policy gaps, providing guidelines, funding, promoting partnerships and fostering research and the exchange of best practice. There is a wealth of positive experience that can be a model for advancing towards the EU biodiversity targets in the remaining period until 2020.
It is now urgent to intensify the implementation of measures across all targets and to ensure that the principles included in the policy frameworks are fully reflected on the ground. Achieving the 2020 biodiversity objectives will require strong partnerships and the full engagement and efforts from key actors at all levels, in particular with respect to completing the Natura 2000 network for the marine environment, ensuring effective management of Natura 2000 sites and implementing the Invasive Alien Species Regulation, and considering the most suitable approach for recognizing our natural capital throughout the EU.
Achieving this target will also require more effective integration with a wide range of policies, by setting coherent priorities underpinned by adequate funding — in particular in the sectors of agriculture and forestry which together account for 80% of land use in the EU, as well as marine, fisheries and regional development. EU financing instruments can assist in the process. Achieving biodiversity objectives will also contribute to the growth and jobs agenda, food and water security, and to quality of life, as well as to the implementation of sustainable development goals globally and in the EU.
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(2) http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/1259855.full .
(3) http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2015 .
(4) http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eu-2010-biodiversity-baseline .
(5) COM(2011)244 final.
(6) COM(2010) 2020 final.
(7) Decision No 1386/2013/EU.
(8) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/economics_policy/pdf/report_sept2011.pdf .
(9) http://www.teebweb.org/ .
(10) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/biodiversity/pdf/ieep_alterra_report.pdf .
(11) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/pdf/teeb_report.pdf .
(12) SWD(2015) 187.
(13) COM(2015) 219 final.
(14) http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer .
(15) http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer-2015/europe/biodiversity .
(16) SEBI 023, EEA, 2015.
(17) COM(2015) 219 final.
(18) http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/state-of-nature-in-the-eu .
(19) SEC(2011) 1573 final.
(20) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/management/guidance_en.htm .
(21) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/fitness_check/index_en.htm .
(22) EEA Technical Report 6/2015.
(23) JRC Report 2015, Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services.
(24) COM(2013) 249 final.
(25) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/comm2006/pdf/2020/RPF.pdf .
(26) Many EU policies and legal texts have impacts (direct and indirect) on the state of biodiversity in rural areas. Target 3A focuses on the contribution of the common agricultural policy.
(27) JRC Report 2015, Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services.
(28) European Red List of Wild Bees (2015).
(29) Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
(30) The 73 rural development programmes (of 118 in total) adopted by 23.08.2015 cover three quarters of the budget and three quarters of utilised agricultural area.
(31) The graph refers to EU-27 as it relates to the time before the accession of Croatia.
(32) COM(2013) 659 final.
(33) COM(2015) 239 final.
(34) JRC (2015) Monitoring the performance of the common fisheries policy — STECF-15-04.
(35) EEA Report No 2/2015.
(36) Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014.
(37) http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/trends-in-marine-alien-species-mas-2/assessment .
(38) http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ .
(39) COM(2013) 267.
(40) COM(2013) 260.
(41) CBD Global Biodiversity Outlook 4.
(42) http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/ecological-footprint-of-european-countries/ecological-footprint-of-european-countries-2 .
(43) COM(2014) 64 final.
(44) SEC(2015)240.