Stop biodiversity loss

All over the world, biological diversity - the variety of ecosystems, species and genes - remains under severe threat. If mankind continues with "business as usual", the annual loss of vital ecosystem services provided for free by nature is estimated to equal €50 billion, while by 2050 the accumulated welfare losses could amount to 7% of GDP. To tackle the issue, on 15 March the Environment Council set a new headline target of halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2020 and defined its vision for protecting this richness of nature until 2050.

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Despite efforts to date, previous biodiversity goals set at EU and global levels have not been met. According to experts, more than a third of species assessed are facing extinction and an estimated 60% of the earth’s ecosystems have deteriorated in the last 50 years.

Environment ministers stressed that the international year of biodiversity 2010, and in particular the high-level session on the issue at the UN Assembly in September, offer an extraordinary opportunity to mobilise the world to address the global biodiversity crisis. Discussions on the review of the UN convention on biological diversity are under way. They could be concluded at the 10th conference of the parties to the convention in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010.

As well as being valuable in its own right, biodiversity delivers 'value' through ecosystem services, for example through the provision of food and water, by offering natural protection from floods and storms, and by regulating the climate. Together with climate change, loss of biodiversity is the most critical global environmental threat.

More information:
Council conclusionson biodiversity post-2010
Council press release
Webcast of press conference