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If we do not protect nature, nature will not protect us.
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Biodiversity – a matter of human survival
10-09-2009
BirdLife reaction to Stromstad Meeting of EU Environment Ministers
On 9 September 2009 BirdLife International welcomed the strong wake-up call given by a Ministerial meeting organised by the Swedish EU Presidency in Stromstad, Sweden. The aim of the conference was to outline how Europe can take global leadership in protecting ecosystems and biodiversity. 2010 has been declared by the UN as the ‚Year of Biodiversity’ and new global targets and strategies are needed to tackle the loss of species and habitats which threatens human well-being in an unprecedented scale.
In Stromstad, the latest scientific findings on the economic impacts of the planetary environmental crisis were discussed. The main topic of the discussion was a new groundbreaking report by the economist Pavan Sukhdev based on a study project on „The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)“.
Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager, representing BirdLife at the Stromstad meeting, commented: "Thanks to the shocking facts unveiled by Pavan Sukhdev it seems politicians now start to realise what is at stake: biodiversity protection is no longer an issue just for nature lovers, but it has become a matter of survival for mankind. Unfortunately this learning process is much slower than the ongoing destruction of our planet".
"The real drama is that EU govermnents, like many others, still follow a short-sighted economic model that unravels our safety net against climate change, and dismantles the pre-condition for economic prosperity: a healthy environment. If we do not protect nature, nature will not protect us".
Mr Sukhdev shocked the participants of the Stromstad meeting with a very inconvenient truth on the future of coral reefs.
"Biodiversity protection is no longer an issue just for nature lovers, but it has become a matter of survival for mankind" —Konstantin Kreiser, EU Policy Manager at BirdLife European Division
"Coral reefs protect coasts against sea-level rise, and secure the income of half a billion people. But coral reefs are under threat from global warming, fisheries and other pressures. If governments do not manage to agree on very ambitious climate targets in Copenhagen, they basically take the decision that we will live in a world without coral reefs – and will be responsible for hundreds of millions of environmental refugees. Thanks to TEEB there is no longer an excuse for inaction – the truth is on the table", Konstantin Kreiser commented.
"In the light of this new evidence, BirdLife calls on EU leaders to no longer hide behind empty declarations and non-binding action plans. Together with other NGOs, BirdLife presented a proposal for an „EU Rescue Plan for Biodiversity":
"EU Member States and especially Commission President Barroso want to be seen as green world leaders. This is only credible if Europeans do their homework, and here are three urgent things to start with: first, we must strengthen and better finance our EU nature protection legislation, secondly we must green all EU policies, especially relating to agriculture and fisheries, and thirdly we must reduce Europe’s impact on global biodiversity (e.g. by revising the EU’s destructive biofuels policy). If we continue to fail on this, the EU risks to end up on the backseat in global environmental negotiations".
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Credits: BirdLife European Division