2 
 
Biodiversity is also crucial for safegua rding EU and global food security.  Biodiversity 
loss threatens our food systems 6, putting our food security and nutrition at risk. 
Biodiversity also underpins healthy and nutritious diets and improves rural livelihoods 
and agricultural productivity7. For instance, more than 75% of global food crop types rely 
on animal pollination8.  
Despite this urgent moral, economic and environmental imperative, nature is in a state 
of crisis. The five main direct drivers of biodiversity loss 9 – changes in land and sea use, 
overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species – are making 
nature disappear quickly. We see the changes in our everyday lives: concrete blocks 
rising up on green spaces, wilderness disappearing in front of our e yes, and more species 
being put at risk of extinction than at any point in human history. In the last four decades, 
global wildlife populations fell by 60% as a result of human activities 10. And almost 
three quarters of the Earth’s surface have been altered 11, squeezing nature into an ever -
smaller corner of the planet.  
The biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis are intrinsically linked. Climate change 
accelerates the destruction of the natural world through droughts, flooding and wildfires, 
while the loss and unsustainable use of nature are in turn key drivers of cli mate change. 
But just as the crises are linked, so are the solutions. Nature is a vital ally in the fight 
against climate change 12. Nature regulates the climate, and n ature-based solutions 13, 
such as protecting and restoring wetlands, peatlands and coastal e cosystems, or 
sustainably managing marine areas, forests, grasslands and agricultural soils, will be 
essential for emission reduction and climate adaptation. Planting trees and deploying 
green infrastructure will help us to cool urban areas and mitigate th e impact of natural 
disasters.  
Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are one of the biggest threats facing humanity 
in the next decade14. They also threaten the foundations of our economy and  the costs of 
inaction are high and are anticipated to increase15. The world lost an estimated €3.5-18.5 
trillion per year in ecosystem services from 1997 to 2011 owing to land -cover change, 
and an estimated €5.5 -10.5 trillion per year from land degradation. Specifically, 
biodiversity loss results in reduced crop yields and fish catches, increased economic 
losses from flooding and other disasters, and the loss of potential new sources of 
medicine16.  
The EU is ready to show ambition to reverse biodiversity loss, lead the world by example 
and by action, and help agree and adopt a transformative post -2020 global framework at 
the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This should 
                                                 
6  World Economic Forum (2020), The Global Risks Report 2020. 
7  Food and Agriculture Organization (2019), State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. 
8  IPBES (2019), Summary for policymakers, p. 3, A1. 
9  IPBES (2019), Summary for policymakers, pp. 17 -19, B.10 -B.14; European Environment Agency 
(2019), The European environment – state and outlook 2020.  
10  World Wildlife Fund (2018), Living Planet Report - 2018: Aiming Higher. 
11  IPBES (2019), Summary for policymakers, p. 4, A4. 
12  Idem. 
13  https://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index.cfm?pg=nbs 
14  World Economic Forum (2020), The Global Risks Report 2020. 
15  Organisation for Economic  Co-operation and Development  (OECD) (2019), Biodiversity: Finance and 
the Economic and Business Case for Action. 
16  Idem.