The European Council has finalised its negotiating position ahead of final COP15 discussions for the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which are due to take place in Montreal, Canada, in December.
It is expected that the GBF – which is considered to be the nature equivalent to the Paris Agreement – will be officially adopted by participating countries.
The EU Council will be calling for the GBF to include more ambitious commitments within its 2030 goals, including eliminating all illegal unsustainable or unsafe harvest, trade and use of wild species, as well as harnessing the full potential of nature-based solutions.
The Council has also called for the adoption of “a strong and enhanced mechanism for planning, reporting and reviewing together with a robust monitoring framework”.
Guido Broekhoven, Head of Policy Research and Development at WWF International, said:
“Halting and reversing biodiversity loss for a nature-positive world by 2030 is the right level of ambition. However, to achieve this, the EU must increase its ambition on addressing the drivers of biodiversity loss and agree to halve the global footprint of production and consumption by 2030, remaining within planetary boundaries afterwards.”
“The position will also need to be matched with the resources required for implementation. Now the EU must work with other countries at the highest level to agree a GBF that allows implementation of the framework to start immediately.”
There may be pushback from companies, as new research by NGO InfluenceMap has highlighted that 89% of engagement by industry associations in Europe and the US is designed to delay and even block progress on tackling biodiversity.
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