6 Biodiversity beyond 2010
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5614/10
COM(10) 4
| Commission Communication: Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010
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| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 19 January 2010
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| Deposited in Parliament | 25 January 2010
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| Department | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 4 February 2010
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| Previous Committee Report | None, but see footnote 26
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
6.1 The Commission says that biodiversity is integral to sustainable
development, and that, together with climate change, its loss
is the most critical global environmental threat. It notes that
in 2001 the EU set itself the target of halting biodiversity loss
by 2020, and that the Commission adopted in 2006 a Biodiversity
Action Plan[26] to speed
up progress. However, it also points out that, despite this, there
are clear indications that the EU will not achieve its target,
and that the Council has called for an new vision and target,
contributing to international discussions on a global vision beyond
2010 as part of a plan to implement the United Nations Convention
on Biological Diversity.
The current document
6.2 Following consultations, the Commission has now put forward
this Communication as a first step towards that objective, with
the aim of stimulating further informed debate by identifying
the issues at stake and the steps needed to realise ambitious
EU goals.
THE CASE FOR BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION
Biodiversity trends
6.3 The Commission says that global biodiversity remains under
severe threat, with more than 60% of the Earth's ecosystems, including
marine biodiversity (which accounts for about 90% of the planet's
biomass), having been degraded in the last 50 years as a result
of habitat destruction, over-exploitation, unsustainable practices,
population growth, pollution and, increasingly, climate change.
It adds that there is mounting evidence that many ecosystems have
already reached the point of no return, and that, although the
limits are still being defined, this would have far-reaching consequences.
More specifically, it comments that, despite some improvements,
the overall situation in Europe has continued to deteriorate,
with grasslands, wetlands, estuary and coastal habitats at greatest
risk, and that appropriate forms of land and maritime management
are needed to maintain and enhance important ecosystems.
Implications of biodiversity loss
6.4 The Commission observes that, in addition to its intrinsic
value, biodiversity provides food and water, offers natural protection
from floods and storms, and helps to regulate the climate, adding
that ecosystems characterised by high species diversity are more
productive, stable and resilient, as well as being less vulnerable
to external stresses and pressures and providing an important
means of mitigating the impact of climate change. It suggests
that the economic costs associated with biodiversity loss —
equivalent to €50 billion annually — have until recently
been largely overlooked, and that a proper evaluation of ecosystem
services is therefore essential, noting also that these often
provide similar benefits, but at a significantly lower cost, to
man-made technological solutions. Finally, the Commission highlights
the extent to which biodiversity is essential to the livelihoods
of millions around the world, and in reducing poverty and achieving
the millennium development goals.
Achievements and shortcomings of current policy
6.5 The Commission states the biodiversity is a key EU environmental
priority, with its objectives being integrated in the Sustainable
Development Policy. It points out that the target set for 2010
was a prime catalyst for the Biodiversity Action Plan, leading
to such measures as the implementation of the Birds and Habitats
Directives, the development of the Natura 2000 network, and being
integral to the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy
Framework Directive, as well as to measures to reduce pollution.
In addition, it identifies the role of the Sustainable Consumption
and Production Action Plan in reducing the impacts of economic
activity on biodiversity.
6.6 However, the Commission says that, despite these
achievements, several factors have prevented the EU from achieving
its 2010 target, and need to be addressed for the period beyond
that date. These include:
- gaps in the implementation
of Natura 2000;
- a number of major policy gaps, notably on soils
and invasive species, and the need for better coordination on
infrastructure development and planning;
- gaps in knowledge and data at Member State, EU
and global levels, as a result of the lack of a comprehensive
approach, and uneven reporting by Member States: it says that
work is now gathering pace to develop a baseline and related indicators
within the EU which are likely to be the most advanced in the
world, with the European Environmental Agency completing in June
2010 the first EU biodiversity baseline, launching a Biodiversity
Information System for Europe, and producing a strategic plan
to fill the gaps, and that, at a global level, the EU is supporting
efforts to establish an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services, aimed at integrating these into policy
making, with a decision due in spring 2010 whether or not to establish
the System;
- the need to improve the integration of biodiversity
concerns into other policies, bearing in mind that biodiversity
is a good indicator of their environmental impact: it also notes
that action to address problems in other areas has been incompatible
with biodiversity objectives, with the benefits of resilient systems
being often overlooked, one priority area in particular being
the need to reform the Common Fisheries Policy;
- funding needs for biodiversity in the EU must
be properly assessed, taking into account the welfare benefits
delivered by ecosystems;
- the issue of equity should be considered within
the EU and at a global level, since the uneven spread of biodiversity
means that the burden of tackling the challenge is currently spread
unequally: it suggests that this should involve payments for ecosystem
services to those whose land provides such services;
- the EU is committed to securing a successful
outcome to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and to making
a success of the negotiations on reducing emissions from deforestation.
OPTIONS FOR AFTER 2010
A vision for 2050
6.7 The Commission suggests that there is a broad
consensus that the main features of the new EU long-term vision
for biodiversity should include a clear time-frame up to 2050,
reflecting the urgency of the situation and the need for action.
It accordingly suggests that this should involve preserving and
valuing the world's biodiversity and ecosystem services, and,
as far as possible, restoring their intrinsic value, so that they
can continue to support economic prosperity and human well-being
and avert catastrophic changes linked to biodiversity loss. It
notes that discussions are under way at global level on a target
for 2020, and it suggests that the EU should have a target aimed
at securing progress towards turning the vision into a reality
which should be measurable, achievable and cost-effective, and
contribute towards meeting the EU's international commitments
on biodiversity.
Levels of ambition
6.8 The Commission suggests the following four levels
of ambition for a 2020 headline target:
- significantly reducing the
rate of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU
by 2020;
- halting the loss of such services by 2020;
- halting the loss of such services by 2020, and
restoring them as far as possible;
- halting the loss of these services by 2020, restoring
them as far as possible, and stepping up the EU's contribution
to averting global biodiversity loss.
It says that these approaches will bring different
benefits and costs, and require the development of more or less
stringent policy actions and instruments, building on a common
policy baseline which includes existing EU nature conservation
and other biodiversity-related legislation, as well as legislation
in other relevant policy areas, such as climate and energy, the
Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. It
adds that all four options require the establishment of a scientific
baseline on the current state of biodiversity and ecosystem services,
and that research relating to the economics of biodiversity and
ecosystem services, to the development of indicators, and to defining
the pressure which biodiversity can withstand before becoming
irreversible also needs to be stepped up.
6.9 The Communication concludes by noting that the
setting of a post-2010 vision and target is not an end in itself,
but rather marks the start of a process of putting an new EU biodiversity
strategy in place by the time the current target runs out. It
stresses that there is no easy way to tackle biodiversity loss
effectively, and that there is a need for an evidence-based, integrated
approach which focuses on the main pressures by specific sectors,
such as land-use change, over-exploitation, invasive species,
pollution and climate change, with sub-targets being devised for
each kind of pressure, sector or ecosystem, combined with cost-effective
action at the appropriate level. It adds that it is already clear
that action will be needed at various different levels, and that
the approach in the Biodiversity Action Plan to establish partnerships
with Member States remains fully relevant, and will require an
effective governance framework involving all those concerned at
different levels.
The Government's view
6.10 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 4 February
2010, the Minister for Marine and Natural Environment at the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Huw Irranca-Davies)
says simply that the UK supports the need to develop a post-2010
global target for biodiversity under the auspices of the Convention
on Biological Diversity, and the need for an EU vision and target
for biodiversity beyond 2010 as part of this framework. He regards
this Communication as a welcome input to the debate, and as outlining
several useful options for a 2020 headline target. He also says
that the Communication illustrates the breadth of the issue, and
that action taken to tackle biodiversity loss is relevant to a
wide-range of policy areas and interests.
Conclusion
6.11 This Communication seeks to identify the
main issues arising in relation to biodiversity loss, and to indicate
the issues which need to be addressed in this area after 2010.
To the extent that it deals with an area of obvious interest,
we think it right to draw it to the attention of the House, but,
as the document is in very general terms, we see no need to hold
it under scrutiny. We are therefore clearing it.
26 (27531) 9769/06: see HC 34-xxxiii (2005-06), chapter
10 (28 June 2006). Back
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