The European Council of environment ministers has called for the adoption of an ambitious and transformative global biodiversity framework that effectively addresses the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss today (Monday, October 24).
The council, which includes Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, stressed the need to address land-use changes negatively affecting biodiversity in all ecosystems in 2030 targets.
Conclusions approved by the ministers in Luxembourg today will serve as the EU’s general negotiating mandate for the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal in December.
A post-2020 global biodiversity framework is set to be adopted at the “landmark” conference, including goals to guide global actions to protect and restore nature into the next decade.
The EU Council also seeks to approve conclusions for the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP27) today, and debate a proposal to revise the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Waste Landfill Directive.
Global biodiversity framework
EU environment ministers seek to include long-term 2050 goals, 2030 intermediate outcomes and action-oriented 2030 targets in the framework, including reducing levels and risks of pollution from all sources.
The EU stressed the need to include the following, among other things, in the goals and targets by 2030:
- Effectively conserving at least 30% of global land and at least 30% of oceans;
- Restoring three billion hectares of degraded land and freshwater ecosystems, and three billion hectares of ocean ecosystems;
- Eliminating all illegal, unsustainable or unsafe harvest, trade and use of wild species;
- Halting human-induced extinctions of known threatened species;
- Harnessing the full potential of nature-based solutions;
- Preventing the introduction of all priority invasive alien species, and eradicating already established invasive alien species to reduce their impacts on biodiversity;
- Implementing practices for the sustainable use of biodiversity at a significant scale with set numerical targets.
The council acknowledged the importance of adequate resource mobilisation, and recalled in its conclusions the commitment by the European Commission to double external funding for biodiversity, in particular for the most vulnerable countries.
Environment ministers also emphasised the importance of biodiversity mainstreaming across all sectors and is committed to fully mainstreaming biodiversity into plans and policies at EU, national and local levels.
Meanwhile, the council has formally adopted a regulation to reduce limit values for the presence of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are particularly harmful substances, in waste.
Although these chemicals may no longer be used in new products, they can still be found in waste coming from some consumer products such as waterproof textiles, furniture, plastics, and electronic equipment, according to the council.