She had been waiting for almost two years. The third “national biodiversity strategy” (SNB) was presented in its final version this Monday, November 27 by Elisabeth Borne. With a slogan: “the radicality of the results without the brutality of the measures”. The Prime Minister particularly wanted to highlight the “existential threat” that weighs on our societies.
Faced with the “collapse of biodiversity […] so strong, so rapid, so widespread” which raises fears, according to her, of “a sixth extinction”, “we must stem it quickly and strongly reverse the trend”, declared the head of government while presenting the 40 measures intended to safeguard nature and “stop the collapse of life” by 2030.
While this third text promises to pursue the objectives of the first two which have not been achieved, Elisabeth Borne entrusted the charge to Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition, and Sarah El Haïry, Secretary of State in charge of Biodiversity , to clarify its contours.
1 billion euros for nature protection in 2024
This strategy is intended to be the French version of the Kunming-Montreal agreement. Adopted in December 2022 by the international community at COP15 Biodiversity, it provides, among other things, for the effective protection of 30% of land and seas, the restoration of 30% of degraded ecosystems, as well as the halving of pesticides.
“It is a plan, very operational and concrete, of 200 actions with monitoring and evaluation indicators, these are not just big words,” assured Secretary of State Sarah El Haïry, in an interview with the AFP.
The Prime Minister, for her part, confirmed that one billion euros would be devoted to the protection of nature and water in 2024, an increase of 250 million euros. “This is a first step, for additional needs estimated at 450 million euros in 2027,” said Sarah El Haïry’s office.
50,000 kilometers of hedges and 1 billion more trees
The Secretary of State for Biodiversity broke down the government’s priorities into several axes, including: “Stop and reverse the collapse of life, for example with protected areas, restore nature, with a billion trees planted , 50,000 kilometers of additional hedges or even cool islands in schools, mobilize all stakeholders, including the business world because today biodiversity is the blind spot of the economic world.”
Progress on “the restoration of meadows which store a huge amount of carbon”, “ecosystems released by the melting of glaciers” or even “underwater noise pollution”, were notably discussed. In addition, the executive confirmed that it wanted to place, by 2030, 10% of the national territory under “strong protection”, compared to 4.2% in 2023.
Promised for this fall, the name of the location of the future “national wetlands park” will finally be known “in the spring”, indicated Sarah El Haïry. And to mention the creation of Tracnat, a service which would be the counterpart of Tracfin, with the aim of fighting against the illegal trade in natural resources.
A “partial and perfectible” strategy
A draft SNB was presented last July, the day Sarah El Haïry took office, and was submitted to four bodies – the National Biodiversity Council, the National Sea and Coastal Council, the National Nature Conservation Council and the National Water Council – which have since issued their opinions.
In October, the National Biodiversity Committee, which brings together 150 members, scientists, communities and NGOs, criticized the project, citing a “partial and perfectible” ambition. Véronique Andrieux, general director of WWF France, for her part regretted the lack of revision of the common agricultural policy (CAP) which “still represents 63% of subsidies harmful to biodiversity in France, or 6.5 billion euros per year”.
“The objective is to gradually eliminate these harmful subsidies,” defended Sarah El Haïry to AFP, announcing that a “mission” would be launched “with the ministries of Economy and Agriculture” in order to to “redirect” these subsidies “to support the ecological transition”.