EU Member States support Nature-based Solutions

Today the EU Member States’ decision should help to link the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy with the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the upcoming EU Forest Strategy.  

IUCN welcomes the Council's focus on scaling up Nature-based Solutions, their importance in tackling the dual crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change, as well as their potential in providing benefits to nature, society and the economy. The emphasis on the potential of Nature-based Solutions in several areas, including agriculture, forest resilience, urban greening, and ecosystem restoration, is a step in the right direction. 

Moreover, IUCN welcomes the Council’s ambition to increase the annual spending for biodiversity under the Multiannual Financial Framework, reaching 7,5% in 2024 and 10% in 2026 and 2027. We expect this commitment to remain further on, from 2028 onwards. In line with this objective, IUCN has been calling for a Nature-based recovery which also aims to expand and share our understanding of Nature-based Solutions in the post-pandemic recovery plans. 

Luc Bas, Director of the IUCN European Regional office, noted: “At the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, all our energy must go into the actions to protect and restore our ecosystems. We expect EU Member States to show a high level of ambition in all sectoral policy discussions: this will secure the achievement of the biodiversity and climate targets”.