Ambitious new nature and biodiversity policies are needed, say environmental stakeholders. Activists are calling for the European Commission’s proposed Nature Restoration Law to set strong biodiversity targets, just as the Green Deal set robust climate targets.

On 6th February the EU got a foretaste of EU climate policy debates to come when lawmakers in the European Parliament debated the European Commission’s recommended climate target for 2040 – a 90% cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels.

Despite representing just 2.9% of the EU’s working-age population, much of the focus was on how to keep farmers on board with the targets – largely due to the rolling protests across the continent in the preceding weeks. Further back, European supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine reminded the public how essential our home-grown agricultural community is to food production.

But the agricultural climate debate is not just about mitigating emissions, it’s also about adapting to the inevitable changes brought by a warming climate — and that includes biodiversity and protecting nature.

Liege Declaration

With memories still fresh of the deadly floods that killed 39 people in Wallonia in summer 2021, it’s no surprise that the Liège Declaration on Adaptation to Climate Change, signed in early February by European networks and organisations of non-state actors – including businesses, researchers, civil society and local government – highlighted adaptation to climate change through nature-based solutions (NbS) and resilience as the number one priority.

According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), 50% of all species in the EU rely upon agricultural habitats. It is therefore essential to have farmers’ buy-in to implementing nature-based solutions.

Agriculture relies on biodiversity. Food and fibre production depend on various genetic or natural factors such as soil and water conservation, soil fertility, pest and disease resistance, and pollination.

According to the European Landowners Organisation (ELO), which has represented the interests of landowners, land managers and rural entrepreneurs including farmers since 1972: “Ecosystems are the ‘lungs’ and backbone of our rural territories and landowners are custodians of this rich environment.”

National restoration plans

The ELO therefore supports the European Commission’s proposed Nature Restoration Law that would require EU countries to develop national restoration plans. These plans should define the restoration measures to meet binding targets up to 2050.

“The failures of the past should be a guide toward a better understanding of the governance framework, funding mechanisms, participatory approach and communication tools which are needed to cope with the current decline of biodiversity everywhere in the world,” said the ELO.

Noor Yafai, Europe Director of Global Policy and Institutional Partnerships, at The Nature Conservancy, said it’s high time to bust the myth that businesses are anti-green policies and green regulation. “Actually, it’s not all businesses that want to halt laws or limit targets. Many industry voices – including those investing in agriculture and rural industries have been backing the Commission’s Green Deal policies,” she said.

And it’s not only in the EU. Nature and biodiversity have been increasingly on the agenda internationally – at COP26, COP27, COP28 and most recently at DAVOS.

Yafai describes the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework as nature’s “Paris Agreement moment.” Some 196 countries signed up to the agreement in December 2022 committing to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.

She argues that where the Green Deal sets strong climate targets and implements measures, the next EU Commission needs to do this for nature and biodiversity. Yafai remarked that the next Commission should include a focus in its new work programme on introducing powerful policy signals which will help businesses transition investments faster in support of nature and maintaining healthy biodiversity.

Yafai added: “This should include a focus on more innovative finance models, from incentives and blended finance models, through to addressing harmful public subsidies; including in reviewing and reforming key aspects of the EU CAP that aren’t helping to defend farmers from the worst effects of climate change to come.”

The business case for those incentives seems self-evident. The European Central Bank has said: “The loss of biodiversity and the degradation of natural ecosystems pose a significant threat to the broader economy and financial stability.” Its report found that “nearly three-quarters of all bank loans in the euro area are to companies that are highly dependent on biodiversity.”

“Increasingly there are sectors – particularly renewables – that understand that the way to green and prosperous growth in the EU, is in getting these biodiversity policies implemented well and financed well.”

“In the context of climate change mitigation, there are huge win-wins as nature-based solutions can help mitigate climate change emissions in a cost-effective way.”

“Planting a tree, or restoring a riverbank is in many cases far cheaper than technological solutions. In short, nature is part of the toolkit to help protect agricultural communities, rural SMEs, farmers, etc. Businesses themselves understand this. Now politicians must get on board,” concluded Yafai.

[By Jennifer Baker I Edited by Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]

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