Headline Target
Halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, and restoring them in so far as feasible, while stepping up the EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss
The assessment of this target as “no significant change” is in relation to the trend, i.e. the overall trend of biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystem services in the EU.Overall, biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU have continued since the EU 2010 biodiversity baseline, as confirmed by the 2015 European environment — state and outlook report and the 2018 regional assessment for Europe and Central Asia of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) (https://www.ipbes.net/assessment-reports/eca). This is consistent with global trends and has serious implications for the capacity of biodiversity to meet human needs in the future, and in particular food security. While many local successes demonstrate that action on the ground delivers positive outcomes, these examples need to be scaled up to have a measurable impact on the overall negative trends.
Indicators used in this assessment
SEBI 001: Abundance and distribution of selected species
SEBI 002: Red List Index for European Species
SEBI 003: Species of European Interest
SEBI 005: Habitats of European interest
SEBI 008: Sites designated under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives
SEBI 023: Ecological Footprint of European Countries, Ecological Footprint variation per region
Relevant websites, links, and files
Commission Staff Working Document (2015), EU Assessment of Progress in Implementing the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020
EEA (2015) Technical report on State of Nature in the EUEuropean Commission (2015)
The European environment - state and outlook report, EEA (2015)