Nature restoration: helping people, biodiversity and climate

WWF invites you to join our online webinar on 3 February from 15:00 - 16:30 to launch a brand new publication which showcases local stories about successful nature restoration from all across Europe. The webinar will delve into the range of benefits nature restoration yields, from improving biodiversity to sequestering carbon, to benefiting local communities and economies. Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries will give a keynote address, followed by testimonies from local stakeholders featured in the publication about their on-the-ground experiences of nature restoration. This will then be followed by a panel discussion with Cesar Luena (S&D), rapporteur on the European Parliaments own initiative report on the Biodiversity Strategy, Stefan Leiner, Head of Biodiversity Unit at DG Environment ,Elena Višnar Malinovská, Head of Unit Adaptation, DG Climate Action, Ester Asin, Director at WWF European Policy Office and Anna Heslop, Lawyer, Head of Wildlife and Habitats at ClientEarth.

This event comes at a pivotal political moment as the European Commission is drawing up plans for new EU wide legally-binding restoration targets. WWF is advocating for a target of at least 15% of land and sea to be restored by 2030 both on the EU and Member State level for the benefit of people and planet alike.

Interpretation will be available in Spanish and English.

Moderator: Philippa Nuttall Jones, Editor-in-Chief at Energy Monitor.

Agenda: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CI2wesOqDYao7LnEnpw-L9X6PBpz2gsC/view?usp=sharing

Background information

Human activities have significantly altered three-quarters of the Earth’s land and two-thirds of the ocean in recent decades. This has led to a catastrophic loss of biodiversity and is exacerbating already dangerous levels of climate change. Furthermore, the outbreak of Covid-19 has brought into sharp focus just how much human health and well-being and the health of our planet are inextricably linked. Already now, the degradation of our natural world due to human activities is having a negative impact on the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people.

Conversely, protecting and restoring nature and well-functioning ecosystems is a fundamental tool in tackling the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, and in preventing the future emergence and spread of diseases. Large-scale nature restoration is an investment that yields a range of benefits beyond improving biodiversity and sequestering carbon, such as flood protection, water retention and prevention of wildfires. Nature restoration also increases the resilience of our societies and economies. On average, the benefits of restoration are ten times higher than the costs.