Halting biodiversity loss is a win for all - Main contents

Biodiversity is the whole vast web of life on our planet. It underpins our economy and our wellbeing, and we rely on it for food, materials, clean water, clean air and medicines. It protects us from extreme weather events like floods, and it helps fight climate change. When economists put a figure on something as simple and natural as insects pollinating our crops, they tell us that this is worth EUR 15 billion per year in the EU.

Today we publish our mid-term report on Biodiversity .

One in six jobs in the EU depends to some extent on nature and biodiversity. And yet the threats to this vital resource are real. Few people are unaware that human-induced changes to ecosystems and the extinction of species have been more rapid in recent years than at any time in human history. Looking back over the longest timespan available - the past sixty years - scientists tell us that the majority of services nature provides are either in decline, or showing a mixed picture at best. Recent reports show 30 % of species protected under EU nature legislation threatened as we push forests, oceans, rivers, lakes and soils beyond their limits. Pollution from pesticides and fertilisers is threatening 26 % of species. For the EU, the cost of not halting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020 could add up to EUR 50 billion EUR per year.

Most of these threats aren't new. Back in 2011 the European Commission adopted an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020, with a target agreed by EU Heads of State and Government to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020, to restore ecosystems and to step up the EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss. That strategy has just been reviewed, and the results underline once more the urgent need to protect nature. Not just for its intrinsic value, but for our wellbeing, and for economic development and jobs.

One reassuring thing to emerge from the review is that we can control this situation. Designating protected areas and ensuring they work in practice can have impressive effects. Looking at Europe's seas, for example, areas with high protection show species numbers rebounding, and fish growing correspondingly larger. The overall benefits generated by the marine Natura 2000 network alone already amount to EUR 1.5 billion per year, and that figure that looks set to double: nearly six percent of Europe's seas have been designated as marine protected areas, but the EU has committed to 10 % coverage by 2020.

Many of the policy frameworks we need are already in place. The EU now has a modern Common Fisheries Policy that puts the sustainability of the resource first, and the time has come for more effective global ocean governance to address these issues on the high seas. Our reformed Common Agricultural Policy provides opportunities for Member States to take more heed of the threats to biodiversity. But frameworks need implementation: it's up to farmers and Member States to ensure that those measures are taken up and improve the situation on the ground.

We know how much nature matters to citizens. The Commission is working on a fitness check of EU nature legislation to assess whether it is achieving its objectives efficiently and effectively. A recent consultation on how the legislation is viewed brought a massive response, with more than half a million people sharing their opinion. We also know that at least three quarters of Europeans think there are serious threats to animals, plants and ecosystems at a national, European and global level, and more than half think they will be personally affected by biodiversity loss.

That doesn't have to happen. This review shows that the window for halting biodiversity loss is still open. Better implementation of the current legislation, and bolder, more ambitious enforcement, will keep that window open. It's within our power to protect nature, so let's seize the opportunity - while we still can.