Europe’s biodiversity is a lifeline for economy
From 22 to 24 September the 5th Intergovernmental Conference “Biodiversity in Europe” took place at Liege University, Belgium. Over 120 government and business representatives and environmentalists met to discuss the state of Europe’s biodiversity¹ and post-2010 biodiversity targets for the pan-European region.
In 2003 governments decided on a pan-European political goal to halt the loss of Europe's biological diversity by the year 2010. Although substantial progress has been made in certain areas, this goal will not be met. Facing this milestone, and this conclusion, the conference was focused towards realistically deciding on priority themes for a post-2010 strategy. The effects of climate change on biodiversity as well as the economic value of biodiversity and th e services provided by ecosystems, were important issues on the agenda.
Mr Robert Lamb, president of the Council of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS) states: "European hotspots of endemic species are at risk because of the effects of climate change and destruction, fragmentation and degradation of ecosystems. Current and future economic costs of all of these losses of biodiversity could reach trillions of euros. Natural capital loss already amounts to 1.35 to 3.10 trillion euros every year. Therefore, climate change adaptation and mitigation must be based on an ecosystem approach with the practical involvement of the business community in biodiversity conservation and management. Payment for ecosystem services is an important concept in this respect.”
Value of biodiversity and ecosystem services
Ecosystems support human well-being and health, and provide other direct benefits, such as flood control, water purification and regulation, carbon capture, food production, raw materials, and emotional, recreational and spiritual values. Current generations are consuming these ecosystem services at a rapid rate though. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study estimates a welfare loss equivalent to 7% of the GDP in 2050 under a business as usual scenario, and the yearly loss of
ecosystem services far superseding the impact of the current financial crisis.
Deputy director general of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and host of the conference, Mrs Birthe Ivars, stated that “we should utilize the financial crisis to stimulate innovation in sustainable development and biodiversity and increase biodiversity performance of governments and enterprises. It should not be used as an argument to slow down biodiversity conservation and management”.
The conference agreed on this and concluded that the current financial crisis should result in more efforts to integrate biodiversity and related ecosystem services into mainstream economic and financial processes and policies. It was underlined as well that an urgent reform of national accounting by including resources for ecosystem services is of vital importance for improving management of biodiversity and to support sustainable development.
Climate change and biodiversity
Climate change, which is already impacting on habits, ecosystems and species, poses a serious threat to the viability of Europe’s biodiversity in the medium to long term. Beyond the year 2050 climate change is likely to be the major driver for biodiversity loss globally. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change are vitally important. Therefore the conference concluded that action has to be taken to keep temperature rise as low as possible while planning for the necessary adaptation, maintaining the integrity of the biodiversity and related ecosystem services.
Ms Snezana Prokic, representing the South-East European region, said that “this region is jeopardized by climate change impacts on biodiversity and nature”. She stressed that “further efforts are required to integrate conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into sectoral policies, including water management, agriculture and tourism”.
Message from Liege
The conference resulted in a “Message from Liege”, in which a range of priorities and recommendations to conserve ecosystem services, to address the biodiversity impacts of climate change, and to integrate biodiversity into other sectors of society are listed. A new overall target suggested for pan-Europe is to “halt any further loss of species and habitats and, by 2025, restoration of degraded areas with an emphasis on links between biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change and human well-being”.
The Message from Liege will be one of the stepping stones for achieving valuable outcomes at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This meeting needs to decide on the final post 2010 biodiversity strategy.
For more information, please contact Ms Hanneke Wijnja (wijnja@ecnc.org) or visit http://www.unep.ch/roe/BiodivConf.
During the conference, ECNC's senior programme manager Dr Lawrence Jones-Walters was interviewed by radio RTBF about the link between climate change and biodiversity. You can listen to the interview (in French) here.
The conference was organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Council of Europe in the framework of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), together with the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and with assistance from Belgium.
¹ The Convention on Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as: "the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems."
In 2003 governments decided on a pan-European political goal to halt the loss of Europe's biological diversity by the year 2010. Although substantial progress has been made in certain areas, this goal will not be met. Facing this milestone, and this conclusion, the conference was focused towards realistically deciding on priority themes for a post-2010 strategy. The effects of climate change on biodiversity as well as the economic value of biodiversity and th e services provided by ecosystems, were important issues on the agenda.
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| Mr Robert Lamb, president of the PEBLDS, |
Value of biodiversity and ecosystem services
Ecosystems support human well-being and health, and provide other direct benefits, such as flood control, water purification and regulation, carbon capture, food production, raw materials, and emotional, recreational and spiritual values. Current generations are consuming these ecosystem services at a rapid rate though. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study estimates a welfare loss equivalent to 7% of the GDP in 2050 under a business as usual scenario, and the yearly loss of
ecosystem services far superseding the impact of the current financial crisis.
Deputy director general of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and host of the conference, Mrs Birthe Ivars, stated that “we should utilize the financial crisis to stimulate innovation in sustainable development and biodiversity and increase biodiversity performance of governments and enterprises. It should not be used as an argument to slow down biodiversity conservation and management”.
The conference agreed on this and concluded that the current financial crisis should result in more efforts to integrate biodiversity and related ecosystem services into mainstream economic and financial processes and policies. It was underlined as well that an urgent reform of national accounting by including resources for ecosystem services is of vital importance for improving management of biodiversity and to support sustainable development.
Climate change and biodiversity
Climate change, which is already impacting on habits, ecosystems and species, poses a serious threat to the viability of Europe’s biodiversity in the medium to long term. Beyond the year 2050 climate change is likely to be the major driver for biodiversity loss globally. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change are vitally important. Therefore the conference concluded that action has to be taken to keep temperature rise as low as possible while planning for the necessary adaptation, maintaining the integrity of the biodiversity and related ecosystem services.
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| Mr Pavan Sukhdev, leader of the TEEB |
Message from Liege
The conference resulted in a “Message from Liege”, in which a range of priorities and recommendations to conserve ecosystem services, to address the biodiversity impacts of climate change, and to integrate biodiversity into other sectors of society are listed. A new overall target suggested for pan-Europe is to “halt any further loss of species and habitats and, by 2025, restoration of degraded areas with an emphasis on links between biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change and human well-being”.
The Message from Liege will be one of the stepping stones for achieving valuable outcomes at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This meeting needs to decide on the final post 2010 biodiversity strategy.
For more information, please contact Ms Hanneke Wijnja (wijnja@ecnc.org) or visit http://www.unep.ch/roe/BiodivConf.
During the conference, ECNC's senior programme manager Dr Lawrence Jones-Walters was interviewed by radio RTBF about the link between climate change and biodiversity. You can listen to the interview (in French) here.
The conference was organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Council of Europe in the framework of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), together with the Norwegian Ministry of Environment and with assistance from Belgium.
¹ The Convention on Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as: "the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems."
