By Brian Johnson - 18th May 2006
The European commission is set to unveil a new action plan aimed at combating biodiversity loss.
Environment chief Stavros Dimas will reveal details of what needs to be done to stave off biodiversity loss, both in Europe and internationally, on Monday.
The announcement, which coincides with international biodiversity day, will also be a primer ahead of extensive discussions on biodiversity at the commission’s annual Green Week event, starting on May 30.
World leaders set a target of significantly reducing global diversity loss by 2010. The EU has set itself an increasingly tight target of completely halting Europe’s biodiversity loss by this date.
Key to the process, Dimas said recently, is whether EU external policies such as trade and development are actually helping or hindering action to tackle biodiversity loss.
“[The new action plan] will set priority actions for EU institutions and member states, both within the EU and in relation to development assistance and trade,” said Dimas, writing in Parliament Magazine in April.
And according to the Greek commissioner, biodiversity loss and climate change “are two of the greatest environmental threats we are facing”.
“It could be argued that the loss of biodiversity poses a bigger threat if we consider that once a species is lost, no mitigation measures will be able to bring it back.”
Dimas is likely to receive strong support for the action plan from the upcoming Finnish EU presidency.
Biodiversity is shaping up to be a significant environmental issue for the Finns during their six month stint, with deforestation and Baltic Sea pollution significant national concerns.
And with only three years left to reach the EU’s 2010 deadline, Helsinki is expected to press for agreement from member states on the action plan, and push to ensure that any action is adequately funded.
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