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European Parliament calls for stronger enforcement of biodiversity agenda

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European Parliament calls for stronger enforcement of biodiversity agenda

With a strong 592 – 52 vote, the European Parliament adopted on 2 Feb 2016 a report on the mid-term review of the EU Biodiversity strategy. In a quite ambitious manner, the Parliament text calls for better implementation, enforcement and financing of the Birds and Habitats Directives.

The Members of Parliament also encouraged the European Commission to combat biodiversity loss outside protected areas and made clear that they opposed a revision of the Nature Directives. The report underlines that the socio-economic opportunity costs of missing the biodiversity targets must be made visible, and also contains some figures:

„The following statistics clearly demonstrate the enormous socioeconomic impact of biodiversity:

  • each year, „non-action‟ causes losses of ecosystem services equivalent to 7% of global GDP;
  • the socioeconomic opportunity costs of not reaching the 2020 targets are estimated at €50 billion a year;
  • one in six jobs in the EU depends to some extent on nature; 4.5 million jobs in the EU are dependent on ecosystems protected by Natura 2000;
  • the value of pollination services provided by insects is estimated at €15 billion a year;
  • the damage caused by invasive alien species in the EU is estimated at €12 billion a year;
  • the costs of managing Natura 2000 (€5.8 billion a year) are many times less than the added value produced by Natura 2000 (€200-300 billion).”

<link http: www.europarl.europa.eu sides _blank external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>Report in English