The objective of this Strategy is to ensure that Europe's biodiversity will be on the path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of people, the planet, the climate and its economy, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and with the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The Strategy is structured in four sections: 1. biodiversity – the need for urgent action, 2. protecting and restoring nature in the European Union, 3. enabling transformative change, and 4. the European Union for an ambitious global biodiversity agenda. This Strategy underlines that the agriculture and food and drink sectors are highly dependent on the nature and its services. To this end, biodiversity conservation will be strengthened to ensure the provision of safe, sustainable, nutritious and affordable food. Within the implementation of farm-to fork approach, the progress and improvements in terms of food security will be monitored by the Commission. This Strategy underlines the urgent need to protect and restore ecosystems across land and sea with the aim of ensuring the wellbeing and economic prosperity of present and future generations in a healthy environment. An EU Nature Restoration Plan will be developed to improve the health of existing and new protected areas, and bring diverse and resilient nature back to all landscapes and ecosystems. EU legal frameworks will be strengthened to ensure no deterioration in conservation trends and status of all protected habitats and species by 2030. Sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture, organic farming, agro-ecology, agro-forestry, low-intensive permanent grassland, and stricter animal welfare standards, will be supported in the agriculture sector to prevent the biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems. The condition and diversity of agro-ecosystems will be improved to increase the sector’s resilience to climate change, environmental risks and socioeconomic shocks, while creating new jobs. Moreover, sustainable soil management practices will be adopted to protect soil fertility, reduce soil erosion and increase soil organic matter. Measures will be taken against fires, droughts, pests, diseases and other threats likely to increase with climate change in order to increase the quantity, quality and resilience of forests. An EU Forest Strategy will be developed, including strategies on afforestation and the protection and restoration of forest biodiversity. A new action plan to conserve fisheries resources and protect marine ecosystems will be developed by 2021 to overcome biodiversity loss in the marine and coastal ecosystems. Furthermore, freshwater ecosystems will be restored to improve water regulation, flood protection, nursery habitats for fish, and the removal of nutrient pollution. A new European biodiversity governance framework will be developed to steer the implementation of biodiversity commitments agreed at national, European or international level. The Commission will ensure the full implementation and enforcement of EU environmental legislation and takes actions for raising environmental awareness. Renewable energy systems will be developed to fight climate change and biodiversity loss. Moreover, the EU regulatory framework on bioenergy will be updated in line with the increased ambition set out in the European Green Deal. Pollution control measures will be strengthened to reduce the release of nutrients, chemical pesticides, pharmaceuticals, hazardous chemicals, urban and industrial wastewater, and other waste including litter and plastics. This Strategy stresses on the importance of biodiversity conservation and nature protection to build resilience against the negative environmental, economic and social impacts of climate change and Covid-19.
2020-05-20