Published in Scientific Papers. Series E. Land Reclamation, Earth Observation & Surveying, Environmental Engineering, Vol. XI
Written by Iulian NICHERSU, Costel NEGREI, Oliver LIVANOV, Edward BRATFANOF, Dragoș BALAICAN
Following Parliament's call in January 2020 to set binding targets for saving biodiversity, in May 2020 the European Commission presented the new 2030 Biodiversity Strategy. At its June 2021 plenary session, Parliament adopted a position on the EU's 2030 Biodiversity Strategy: Bringing Nature back into our lives to ensure that the world's ecosystems are protected, restored, and resilient by 2050. Parliament wants the EU to become a leader, guaranteeing that 30% of its territory will be in natural areas by 2030 and taking biodiversity into account in all its policies. Climate change is one of the most important threats to humanity and it will increasingly matter how we manage our existence and development. Climate stabilization, as provided for in the Paris Agreement, requires mitigation and adaptation measures to reduce the impact of climate change and increase the resilience of essential ecosystem services. In the wetland environment, the degradation and loss of wet habitats, especially carbon-capturing ecosystems, results in an unprecedented loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Blue carbon is the carbon stored in wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, which represent significant carbon sinks. Indeed, they sequester carbon in its organic form and store it for thousands of years. Moreover, “blue carbon” ecosystems provide a wide range of ecosystem services that underpin livelihoods and support adaptation to climate change. However, despite the importance of the ecosystem services provided, these habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate.
[Read full article] [Citation]
