The European Commission has
published an on-line consultation to seek the public's views on a future
EU initiative to halt biodiversity loss. Biodiversity
– the natural world that surrounds us – is in decline around the world,
often as a result of human activities. Even when efforts are made to
minimize such damage, there is often a residual impact. If we are to
stop the decline, losses resulting from human activities must be
balanced by gains: when gains are at least equivalent to the losses, the
principle of "No Net Loss" is respected.
Achieving No Net Loss would
require that all planned developments which are expected to have an
impact on biodiversity adhere to a strict "mitigation hierarchy",
whereby priority is given, first, to avoiding or preventing negative
impacts; second, where impacts cannot be avoided, to minimising damage
and rehabilitating their effects; and lastly, to offsetting or
compensating for residual adverse impacts.
The European Union and its
Member States have a range of legal measures and policies dedicated to
the protection of biodiversity, but we are continuing to lose large
amounts of biodiversity every year. Currently almost 25 % of European
animal species are at risk of extinction, and most of Europe’s
ecosystems are degraded. There are still many gaps in our legislation
and policies, especially outside protected Natura 2000 areas. The No Net
Loss initiative aims to fill some of these gaps...
Some Member States, including France and Germany, already have a No Net Loss objective enshrined in their legislation.
The consultation
asks interested citizens, public authorities, business and NGOs for
their views on a future No Net Loss Initiative at EU level. Ideas and
comments are welcome on how to develop the policy, how to ensure that
impacts are avoided, minimised and compensated for; the scope and the
scale of the initiative; which drivers of biodiversity loss and which
economic sectors to include; how to tackle the challenges related to
offsetting and the choice of policy instruments to use.
The consultation will be online until 26 September.
For more information:
This initiative is one of the actions foreseen in the EU Biodiversity Strategy. The consultation, as well as background information and supporting documents can be found at DG Environment's website:
