The IPBES scientific report data are alarming. Our delicate environmental balance is approaching collapse; an unprecedented loss of biodiversity is bringing us closer to the sixth mass extinction of species. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, together with climate change, are the most pressing environmental threats to our society, economy and security.

Both are inextricably linked and require us to embrace transformative change in how we live, produce and consume. The current COVID-19 pandemic is closely linked to human activity and its ecological footprint. The degradation of our ecosystems through deforestation and land use changes, the management of agricultural and food production systems, the trafficking of wild species, climate change and increasing urbanisation all contribute dramatically to multiplying unexpected threats. COVID-19 is just one of them.

Biodiversity and habitat conservation and restoration are therefore essential, not to mention a moral obligation for future generations. Furthermore, the social and financial costs of doing nothing objectively exceed the investment required in health protection, citizens’ well-being and economic security to mitigate the risks of new and unforeseen threats. The EU failed to fully achieve the previous 2020 EU Biodiversity Strategy and the AICHI targets agreed at the COP10 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. [...]

As Parliament’s rapporteur for the report on the new 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, I think we need to put this at the centre of our activities to initiate the required change. Although I am generally satisfied with the level of ambition in the Commission’s strategy, there is still room for improvement. We will not be able to deliver any transformative change without a legal governance framework to provide coherence of actions and measures.

We need a Biodiversity Law, similar to the EU Climate Law recently approved in the Parliament, setting a deadline and the trajectory to follow to reverse the loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems. We also need a long-term plan to jointly address the climate and biodiversity crises. The various objectives foreseen in the European Commission’s Biodiversity Strategy must become binding, as voluntary commitments have not seen previous targets met by the EU nor Member States.

While an overexploited and degraded planet cannot provide us with a healthy future, there are many sectors and people around the world whose current and future livelihood today depend on these natural resources. Here, implementing the strategy and protecting our natural capital must go hand-in-hand with critical sectors that live and work these resources, such as agriculture, forestry or fishing. [...]

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