As a global Partnership, we believe in internationalism. We have translated as much content in your language as our resources allow. Please visit the English language site to view all of our content.
Press enter for results
Have you heard about the Environmental Liability Directive? In a nutshell, it is a comprehensive EU-wide liability regime for environmental damage, which is based on the principle that the polluter pays, meaning that the one that caused the environmental damage is liable for its remediation. It entered into force in 2007. In an ideal world, this directive would prevent environmental damage to happen in the first place. But planet earth is far from utopic, and it turns out this piece of legislation is not as effective as we wished.
In our new report, we explore how fisheries co-management approaches and tools can support efforts to tackle the bycatch of vulnerable species.
Only one day after world leaders agreed on a global deal to reverse the decline of biodiversity at COP15 in Montreal, environment ministers from across the EU are following suit to translate global ambition into strong regional policies. Today, at the European environment council, a majority of ministers expressed their support for a strong EU Nature Restoration Law in response to the climate and biodiversity emergencies.
Almost all EU Member States’ national strategic plans (CSPs) have now been submitted and approved by the European Commission, and the rollout of the EU’s new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), adopted in 2021, is underway.
On the eve of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), the EU must prioritize the health of our ocean in its fight against the climate and biodiversity crises and accept that as part of this, a radical change of our fisheries is crucial.
Thousands of marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles, sharks, and rays are killed in fishing gear every year in European waters. This bycatch is one of the main causes of the declines seen in many of these species' population. But marine species are not the only ones to suffer. For fishers, bycatch means damaged equipment, lost bait, lost fish, and precious time wasted removing bycaught animals from nets, lines, and hooks.
The survival of Europe depends on healthy ecosystems, resilient to climate change. As part of the EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, EU countries have committed to legally protect a minimum of 30% of the EU’s land and sea areas; a third of these are to be strictly protected, in other words, totally undisturbed by human activity.
Halting and reversing global biodiversity loss has never been as urgent as now. Ecosystems support all life on earth and the healthier they are, the healthier we and our planet are. It’s time to restore nature, and we at BirdLife believe the most effective way to do so is through a local to global approach.
The rumours that Europe is currently facing a food security problem are loud and widespread. The forest and agriculture lobbies have been using the devastating war in Ukraine as an opportunity to spread misinformation around food security. Their ultimate goal is to stop Europe from taking steps to protect and restore its nature, and to instead protect and maintain their own profits. It doesn’t take a genius to see why this is bad.
Happy Halloween! In need of some goosebumps? Look no further, here are some of the scariest policy developments across Europe!
EUs plans to accelerate transition to renewables can cost nature a hefty price
A new study commissioned by our German Partner NABU, and compiled by Raptor Protection of Slovakia, provides an overview of the many solutions available to protect birds from getting electrocuted by, and colliding with, powerlines across Europe.
