Biodiversity protection
EU must redouble efforts to protect biodiversity and ecosystems
The European Parliament today adopted a report on the implementation of EU legislation aimed at conserving biodiversity. The report highlights the lack of progress made towards achieving the EU's biodiversity goals and calls for steps to be taken at EU-level. While the Greens believed the report should have gone further in some key areas, Green MEPs voted in favour. After the vote, French Green MEP Sandrine Bélier said:
"EU efforts to tackle biodiversity loss have been nothing short of a fiasco. 2010 is the international year of biodiversity but it was also the target year agreed by the EU to halt biodiversity loss, a target we have scandalously missed. The goalposts have shifted and 2020 is now the goal for halting biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem services. Clearly, the EU must redouble its efforts if it is to achieve this 2020 goal and MEPs have today outlined important steps to this end.
"The report adopted today underlines the need for the Commission to more vigorously enforce EU environmental legislation related to biodiversity conservation and act against infringements. Providing sufficient financial means will be crucial and the report calls for 0.3% of GDP to be ring-fenced for biodiversity protection in the EU. The EP has also called for an integrated approach to biodiversity protection in all sectoral policies (agriculture, fisheries, transports, industries etc).
"There are clear steps that the Council and Commission must urgently take, such as finally adopting the stalled legislation on soil protection - Soil Framework Directive. They must also ensure adequate funding is allocated for management of Natura2000 (nature protection) sites - estimated at over 6 billion per year - and that public funding is not used for projects that undermine biodiversity goals."
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