Robust og bærekraftig bruk av EUs naturressurser
Meddelelse fra Kommisjonen til Europaparlamentet, Rådet, Den europeiske økonomiske og sosiale komite og Regionsutvalget. Robust og bærekraftig bruk av EUs naturressurser
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committe and the Committe of the Regions. Ensuring resilient and sustainable use of EU's natural resources
Meddelelse lagt fram av Kommisjonen 5.7.2023 med pressemelding
Bakgrunn
BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsmeldingen 5.7.2023)
The European Green Deal is a must for the health of our people and planet. Since its presentation in December 2019, it has set in motion a deep and holistic transformation of our society and our economy. The already agreed and completed Fit for 55 initiatives and progress achieved on circular economy and zero pollution proposals pave the way towards meeting the European Union’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050.
These initiatives and their targets rely on solutions provided by nature, our best ally in the fight against climate change, as much as on new technologies and innovation. To uphold the European Union’s international commitments under both the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework as well as in view of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to ensure a transition to a sustainable economy and deliver on climate neutrality and adaptation, in particular to enhance carbon removals by natural sinks, and to deliver on the EU Climate Law, we must urgently restore and strengthen the resilience of natural ecosystems across the EU. We must increase their ability to help us adapt to climate change, improve preservation of water resources, and enhance their productive capacity to ensure lasting food and material security.
With droughts, wildfires water scarcity and flood risks rapidly increasing, and already tragically affecting three quarters of European countries, more progress is therefore needed on another pillar of the Green Deal: ensuring the sustainable use of the EU’s natural resources. This will also strengthen the resilience of European food and farming.
Unsustainable use of natural resources is one of the major drivers of the climate and biodiversity crises which, in turn, already costs thousands of lives and billions of euros in the EU alone. To secure a liveable and sustainable future for ourselves and for next generations, and to strengthen the EU’s resilience against disasters, healthy ecosystems are essential. The degradation and pollution of soils and weakened ecosystem resilience come at a cost for many sectors, especially agriculture, fisheries and the related value chains. In turn, loss of yields due to degraded environment, pollution, droughts, heatwaves, floods and new pests come at a cost to farmers, fishers and consequently to citizens in increased food prices.
With this package, the EU continues to respect its international commitments by paving the way for healthy soils in Europe by setting out a soil monitoring and resilience proposal which will allow us to monitor the health of soils and offer a range of support measures to bring them progressively to a healthy condition. As set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy, it also proposes a new regulatory framework for plant and forest reproductive material that will boost innovation and sustainable practices, leveraging technological progress in new genomic techniques to develop resilient plants and further enable the reduction of the use and the risk of chemical pesticides. Measures to prevent and reduce food and textiles waste will also contribute to a more efficient use of natural resources and further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as also set out in the Circular Economy Action Plan.
This package completes the previous Green Deal proposals already adopted, such as the Climate Law and the revised LULUCF Regulation, or those still in the co-decision process, such as the Nature Restoration Law, which is the flagship proposal of the Green Deal’s natural resource pillar and key to deliver on agreed international targets on biodiversity. This package is also tightly knit with proposals on the carbon removal certification, or the sustainable use of pesticides and those linked to zero pollution. Together, these proposals will enable the EU to steer and speed up the transition to a sustainable economy and society.
Taken together, these measures will bring long-term economic, social, health and environmental benefits to everyone. They will benefit in particular those living directly from land and nature, in the form of more resilient natural assets. This contributes to prosperous rural areas, food security, a resilient and thriving bioeconomy and protects against the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss. By increasing the resilience and health of soils, these proposals can provide additional income opportunities for farmers and land managers, who can be rewarded for carbon farming, receive payments for ecosystem services or for increasing the value of healthy soils and food produced on them.
The European Green Deal is a must for the health of our people and planet. Since its presentation in December 2019, it has set in motion a deep and holistic transformation of our society and our economy. The already agreed and completed Fit for 55 initiatives and progress achieved on circular economy and zero pollution proposals pave the way towards meeting the European Union’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050.
These initiatives and their targets rely on solutions provided by nature, our best ally in the fight against climate change, as much as on new technologies and innovation. To uphold the European Union’s international commitments under both the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework as well as in view of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to ensure a transition to a sustainable economy and deliver on climate neutrality and adaptation, in particular to enhance carbon removals by natural sinks, and to deliver on the EU Climate Law, we must urgently restore and strengthen the resilience of natural ecosystems across the EU. We must increase their ability to help us adapt to climate change, improve preservation of water resources, and enhance their productive capacity to ensure lasting food and material security.
With droughts, wildfires water scarcity and flood risks rapidly increasing, and already tragically affecting three quarters of European countries, more progress is therefore needed on another pillar of the Green Deal: ensuring the sustainable use of the EU’s natural resources. This will also strengthen the resilience of European food and farming.
Unsustainable use of natural resources is one of the major drivers of the climate and biodiversity crises which, in turn, already costs thousands of lives and billions of euros in the EU alone. To secure a liveable and sustainable future for ourselves and for next generations, and to strengthen the EU’s resilience against disasters, healthy ecosystems are essential. The degradation and pollution of soils and weakened ecosystem resilience come at a cost for many sectors, especially agriculture, fisheries and the related value chains. In turn, loss of yields due to degraded environment, pollution, droughts, heatwaves, floods and new pests come at a cost to farmers, fishers and consequently to citizens in increased food prices.
With this package, the EU continues to respect its international commitments by paving the way for healthy soils in Europe by setting out a soil monitoring and resilience proposal which will allow us to monitor the health of soils and offer a range of support measures to bring them progressively to a healthy condition. As set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy, it also proposes a new regulatory framework for plant and forest reproductive material that will boost innovation and sustainable practices, leveraging technological progress in new genomic techniques to develop resilient plants and further enable the reduction of the use and the risk of chemical pesticides. Measures to prevent and reduce food and textiles waste will also contribute to a more efficient use of natural resources and further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as also set out in the Circular Economy Action Plan.
This package completes the previous Green Deal proposals already adopted, such as the Climate Law and the revised LULUCF Regulation, or those still in the co-decision process, such as the Nature Restoration Law, which is the flagship proposal of the Green Deal’s natural resource pillar and key to deliver on agreed international targets on biodiversity. This package is also tightly knit with proposals on the carbon removal certification, or the sustainable use of pesticides and those linked to zero pollution. Together, these proposals will enable the EU to steer and speed up the transition to a sustainable economy and society.
Taken together, these measures will bring long-term economic, social, health and environmental benefits to everyone. They will benefit in particular those living directly from land and nature, in the form of more resilient natural assets. This contributes to prosperous rural areas, food security, a resilient and thriving bioeconomy and protects against the consequences of climate change and biodiversity loss. By increasing the resilience and health of soils, these proposals can provide additional income opportunities for farmers and land managers, who can be rewarded for carbon farming, receive payments for ecosystem services or for increasing the value of healthy soils and food produced on them.