European Parliament pushes to protect 20 percent of world's land and seas

[News_Editor]

European Parliament pushes to protect 20 percent of world's land and seas

2010-10-28 02:13:46 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The delegation of the European Parliament at a biodiversity convention is fighting to protect 20 percent of the world's land and seas, the European Union (EU) said Wednesday.

Members of the European Parliament at the biodiversity convention in Nagoya, Japan are calling for a comprehensive agreement to be concluded, as the basis for practical measures to be presented at the next convention in two years' time. The delegation is pushing to protect the areas as nature reserves.

"We are biting the hand that feeds us if we do not halt the loss of animal and plant species",  said delegation leader Jo Leinen, adding that "equally important as fighting climate change is making sure that stable ecosystems will also exist in future."

"Biodiversity is not only about protecting tigers, pandas or natural parks but about the livelihood of future generations," Leinen added, underlining that the EU and its Member States must lead the fight to protect biodiversity, even given the present economic situation.

"I very much welcome that we are now able to quantify the loss of biodiversity. Money is a language which most of us understand well and is a common denominator for all of us. But it is not only about quantifiable values, but about the common global goods which we should not squander", said Leinen.

"Let's hope that the TEEB report will make the same for biodiversity as the Stern report did for climate change."

The Economics of Ecosystems of Biodiversity, known as the TEEB study, highlights the economic costs of biodiversity loss. The study, for example, says insect pollination alone is worth about €1 billion a year ($1.37 billion).

Within the Parliament's Nagoya conference resolution, targets for 2020 include the values of biodiversity in national accounts, eliminating harmful subsidies for biodiversity, zero net deforestation, halting overfishing and destructive fishing practices, and protecting 20 percent of land, fresh water and sea areas.

In addition, the Parliament underlined the need for the Conference of Parties (COP 10) to adopt a recommendation on biofuels, given the extreme importance of assessing the direct and indirect impacts of biofuels on biodiversity and of establishing biofuel certification and sustainability.

"Destroying natural habitats and continued logging of rain forests to make way for biofuel crops are definitely not a solution", the delegation warned.

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