BRUSSELS, Oct 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – EU environment ministers on Friday
adopted a biodiversity strategy aimed at protecting ecosystems, a move deemed
essential to tackling climate change and reducing the risk of future
pandemics.
Meeting in Luxembourg, the 27 national ministers backed the EU Commission’s
strategy of placing at least 30 percent of the EU’s land maritime areas under
special protection.
The objective will be reached “with all member states participating in this
joint effort”, the joint statement said.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has once again shown us the fundamental importance
of ecosystems and biodiversity for our health and economic and social
stability,” said German environment minister Svenja Schulze.
“Biodiversity is our life insurance: it supplies clean air and water, food,
building material and clothing. It creates jobs and livelihoods. With the
destruction of nature there is also the risk of disease outbreaks and
pandemics,” she added.
The European governments now expect the EU commission — the bloc’s
executive arm — to integrate the biodiversity policy objectives in relevant
future legislative proposals.
The joint statement stressed the need “to fully integrate these objectives
into other sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and forestry”.
It also said member states wanted some EU climate action funding to be
directed to biodiversity programmes.
A Monday report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) warned that more
than 80 percent of the European Union’s natural habitats were in poor or bad
condition.
“We clearly need a large-scale restoration in Europe,” EEA expert Carlos
Romao, one of the authors of the report, said at the time.
– ‘Beacon of hope’ –
Friday’s EU initiative received a cautious welcome from environmental
groups.
“Today’s endorsement is a much-needed beacon of hope,” the WWF said in a
statement.
But the group said the EU ministers had “failed to make real progress on
the EU climate law, ignoring the European Parliament’s recent support for a
60 percent emissions reduction target for 2030”.
Strong differences remain between member states on that issue, with Poland
leading a group of countries who believe that such a cut, or the 55 percent
from 1990 standards put forward by the Commission for 2030, are not feasible
for economies reliant on carbon fuel.
The current agreed drop is 40 percent.
The European Parliament also easily passed a massive farm subsidy bill on
Friday, to the fury of environmental activists who say it fell well short of
EU commitments to fight climate change.
“It’s five minutes to midnight on the climate emergency clock, but our
governments are stalling,” said Greenpeace EU climate policy adviser
Sebastian Mang.
“Meanwhile, the gas industry, the industrial farming lobby, airlines and
carmakers are shooting holes in the EU Green Deal, and our chance of a safe
climate for people and nature is fading.”