Europe and Central Asia

Halting Biodiversity Loss by 2020: Rethinking EU financing for nature conservation?

 

                                                     

 

Date: Monday 1 June 2015 (18h00 - 20h30)
Venue: Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU, Rue Wiertz 77, 1000 Brussels

Invitation and programme for download: English and German

Questions:

Stichting BirdLife Europe,Av.de la Toison d’Or 67, B-1060 Brussels, +32(0)2.2800830; Trees.Robijns@birdlife.org
NABU-Bundesverband, Charitéstr. 3, D-10117 Berlin;  +49 (0)172.4179730; Konstantin.Kreiser@NABU.de

 

This event is kindly hosted by the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union

It is an official side event of the EU Green Week "Nature - Our Health, Our Wealth"

Kindly note: This event will be documented by picture (and possibly video). By participating you declare to agree that these pictures (and video recordings) may be used and potentially published.

 

The EU set itself the objective of halting the decline and to start the recovery of biological diversity by 2020. At half time of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the European Commission has dedicated this year’s Green Week to biodiversity under the theme "NATURE - our health, our wealth".
Despite several successes, the state of nature in the EU is alarming. This will also come forward in the publication of the new European Red List of birds, to be published on 3 June 2015. A key reason for this is the inadequate provision of funding for land users who undertake specific measures for biodiversity and lacking finances for the management of the Natura 2000 network. Although legally foreseen and although a wide range of existing options, the amount of EU funds mobilized until now is far from sufficient. Many Member States, including an increasing number of German Federal States are scaling back the use of the EU budget, and especially of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

In the context of the upcoming mid-term review of the EU budget and the Common Agricultural Policy, NABU and BirdLife Europe invite you to discuss with representatives from the European Commission, European Parliament, Member States and civil society how in the future sufficient resources from the EU budget can be mobilized to save biodiversity. During the event recent data, experience and examples from Germany and other EU Member States will be presented.

For further information on the topic of the event please see www.NABU.de/eu-naturschutzfoerderung (in German).

 

Agenda

 

18:00

Reception
 

18:30 - Welcome

Michael Hinterdobler
(Director of the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union)
Dr. Eick von Ruschkowski (Member of the Management Board, NABU)
 

18:45 - Introduction

Red Lists and Money. Why EU nature conservation financing has to change. (Konstantin Kreiser, International Biodiversity Policy Officer, NABU)
 
Case study Bavaria:

EAFRD and its use for biodiversity across the EU
(Trees Robijns, Senior Agriculture Policy Officer, BirdLife Europe)
 

19:30 - Discussion

How can the EU better finance the protection of biodiversity - and what does this mean for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy?

 
  • Karl Falkenberg (Director General, DG Environment, European Commission)
  • Albert Deß (MEP)
  • Dr. Christian Barth (Director General, Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection)
  • Dr. Aard Mulders (Senior Advisor at the Department for Nature and Biodiversity, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs)
  • Dr. Eick von Ruschkowski (Member of the Management Board and Head of the Department Nature Conservation and Environmental Policy, NABU)
     

20:30 - Final remarks

 

Reception

Ariel Brunner (Head of EU Policy, BirdLife Europe)

 

 

Moderator: Hajo Friedrich

Simultaneous translation: German-English, English-German.