III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 494 

Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a national 

biodiversity strategy for protecting biodiversity for current and future 

generations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish 

a national biodiversity strategy for protecting biodiversity 

for current and future generations. 

Whereas the planet is facing an unprecedented biodiversity 

crisis, largely driven by human activity; 

Whereas recent scientific studies have confirmed human-driven activities are significantly damaging the ecosystems of 

the planet by— 

(1) altering 75 percent of the area of terrestrial environments and 66 percent of marine environments; 

(2) directly exploiting wildlife and plant species; 

(3) accelerating climate change, directly harming nature and exacerbating other threats; 


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(4) polluting air, land, and water; and 

(5) introducing invasive species; 

Whereas recent scientific studies have shown that humandriven threats have harmed biodiversity by— 

(1) threatening approximately 1,000,000 species 

with imminent or near extinction, including— 

(A) more than 40 percent of amphibians; 

(B) 33 percent of corals, sharks, shark relatives, and marine mammals; 

(C) more than 60 percent of cycads and more 

than 30 percent of conifer trees; and 

(D) approximately 10 percent of the more than 

5,000,000 insect species on the planet; and 

(2) causing population sizes of wild species to decline by— 

(A) an average of 68 percent for species of 

mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles; 

(B) approximately 3,000,000,000 birds in 

North America since 1970; 

(C) approximately 50 percent for species of live 

corals; and 

(D) an average of more than 20 percent overall; 

Whereas human activity is accelerating the decline of important economic and cultural services, including— 

(1) land productivity, with a reduction in the productivity of approximately 1⁄4 of the land surface; 

(2) land and freshwater resources, with more than 

1⁄3 of the land surface and 75 percent of freshwater resources devoted to crop or livestock production; 

(3) global crops, with approximately 

$500,000,000,000 of global crops at risk due to pollinator loss; 


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(4) marine fisheries, with 1⁄3 of marine fisheries 

overfished, 60 percent fished at capacity, and only 7 percent fished below capacity; and 

(5) environmental health, with 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by land clearing, crops, and 

fertilization; 

Whereas the decline of biodiversity disproportionately impacts 

indigenous and other communities that rely on nature for 

essential services, including Native Americans and Alaska 

Natives, who offer unique perspectives and traditional ecological knowledge critical to preserving biodiversity; 

Whereas the decline of biodiversity and ecosystem services observed worldwide is occurring in the United States; 

Whereas the United States possesses an abundance and great 

diversity of species of fish, wildlife, and plants that are 

of significant value to the United States for intrinsic, 

aesthetic, ecological, educational, cultural, recreational, 

economic, and scientific reasons; 

Whereas the decline of biodiversity presents a direct threat 

to the security, health, and well-being of the people of the 

United States by causing economic harm through the loss 

of valuable ecosystem services, including zoonotic disease 

buffering, pollination, water filtration, soil replenishment, 

the provision of game species, medicinal products, and 

recreational opportunities; 

Whereas communities of color, low-income communities, Tribal communities, and other populations that have been 

systematically and deliberately targeted for citing environmentally degrading activities and excluded from conservation efforts face disproportionate impacts from biodiversity loss; 


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•SRES 494 IS 

Whereas Federal agencies are tasked with protecting and 

conserving biodiversity in the United States and worldwide through a variety of legal and policy channels; 

Whereas there is no coordinating policy to maximize the effectiveness of the conservation efforts of the Federal Government and collaboration by the Federal Government 

with States, local governments, Indian Tribes, private 

landowners, and other nongovernmental stakeholders; 

Whereas the United States should play a leading role on the 

international stage in addressing the biodiversity crisis, 

yet the United States— 

(1) is not a party to— 

(A) the Convention on Biological Diversity, 

done at Rio de Janeiro June 5, 1992; 

(B) the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (commonly known 

as ‘‘the Convention on Migratory Species’’), done at 

Bonn November 6, 1979; or 

(C) other relevant international agreements; 

(2) does not issue a periodic national biodiversity 

outlook, contrary to most other countries; and 

(3) does not have a national biodiversity strategy as 

part of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on 

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; and 

Whereas scientific research highlights essential pathways forward, including— 

(1) establishing the effective conservation, restoration, and durable protection of not less than 30 percent 

of an ecologically representative area of the lands, 

freshwaters, and oceans in the United States and in the 

world by 2030 by working collaboratively with governVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:40 Dec 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR494.IS SR494

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ments, land owners, fishers, indigenous peoples, communities, and others; 

(2) restoring or rewilding species, degraded habitats, 

and ensuring integrity and connectivity of protected 

areas; 

(3) retaining and protecting highly intact ecosystems; 

(4) reducing pesticide use to levels not higher than 

necessary for ecologically sustainable and safe food production; and 

(5) addressing the threats posed by invasive species: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) it is in the national interest for the Federal 

3 Government to establish a national biodiversity 

4 strategy to— 

5 (A) ensure the conservation and restora6 tion of the biodiversity of the United States; 

7 (B) secure and restore the ecosystem serv8 ices provided by nature for current and future 

9 generations; 

10 (C) deliver on the United Nations Sustain11 able Development Goals; 

12 (D) set ambitious, yet necessary, goals for 

13 protecting biodiversity in the coming decades; 

14 (E) promote social equity and justice in 

15 the conservation of the biodiversity of the 

16 United States; 


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1 (F) coordinate the actions of Federal agen2 cies to advance the conservation of biodiversity; 

3 (G) promote collaboration among Federal, 

4 State, and Tribal governments, nongovern5 mental stakeholders, civil society, and inter6 national parties to advance conservation; 

7 (H) honor the Federal trust obligations to 

8 Indian Tribes and Native Americans; and 

9 (I) provide global leadership in addressing 

10 the biodiversity crisis; and 

11 (2) the national biodiversity strategy described 

12 in paragraph (1) should include direction on— 

13 (A) achieving the national goal of con14 serving not less than 30 percent of the lands 

15 and waters of the United States to protect bio16 diversity and address climate change by 2030 

17 (referred to in this resolution as ‘‘30x30’’), sup18 porting international efforts to achieve the same 

19 goal on a global scale, and setting other goals 

20 necessary to reduce the threats to biodiversity 

21 as indicated by the best available scientific in22 formation; 

23 (B) taking action to protect threatened, 

24 endangered, and at-risk species from further 

25 imperilment or extinction; 


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1 (C) climate adaptation and mitigation 

2 strategies for biodiversity conservation, includ3 ing— 

4 (i) leading international agreements to 

5 combat climate change, including the deci6 sion of the 21st Conference of Parties of 

7 the United Nations Framework Convention 

8 on Climate Change adopted in Paris on 

9 December 12, 2015 (commonly known as 

10 the ‘‘Paris Agreement’’); 

11 (ii) establishing climate refugia and 

12 climate corridors for conservation of spe13 cies affected by climate change; and 

14 (iii) the rapid build-out of renewable 

15 energy; 

16 (D) reviewing existing laws, plans, pro17 grams, and strategies that are relevant to ad18 dressing threats to biodiversity to assess how 

19 the laws, plans, programs, and strategies can 

20 contribute to the objectives of this resolution 

21 and, as necessary, recommending new laws, 

22 plans, programs, and strategies; 

23 (E) ensuring integration of biodiversity 

24 protection across the activities of the Federal 


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1 Government, including foreign policy and for2 eign assistance; 

3 (F) advancing conservation in collaboration 

4 with State and Tribal governments and on pri5 vate lands through incentives, funding, tech6 nical support, and partnerships; 

7 (G) incorporating indigenous knowledge 

8 and practices to support conservation and bio9 diversity, safeguarding the rights and needs of 

10 indigenous peoples, and ensuring fulfillment of 

11 the Federal trust obligations that apply to gov12 ernment decision making that impacts the in13 terests of Native Americans; 

14 (H) ensuring equitable access to nature, 

15 inclusive decision making on biodiversity protec16 tion, and just allocations of resources to achieve 

17 the goals of this resolution, including with re18 spect to systematically and deliberately targeted 

19 populations such as communities of color, low20 income communities, and Native American com21 munities; 

22 (I) establishing regular monitoring and re23 porting on the status of biodiversity in the 

24 United States and globally, including a quadVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:40 Dec 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR494.IS SR494

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1 rennial assessment reported to Congress and 

2 the people of the United States; 

3 (J) prioritizing programs to identify knowl4 edge gaps and accelerate research and develop5 ment of new conservation solutions across sec6 tors; 

7 (K) assessing and integrating the role of 

8 the United States in international biodiversity, 

9 ecosystem services, and nature conservation 

10 in— 

11 (i) national security and foreign policy 

12 strategies, including in international devel13 opment policies, planning and finance, dip14 lomatic dialogues, and trade agreements; 

15 and 

16 (ii) advancing global adoption of and 

17 progress toward 30x30; and 

18 (L) funding existing conservation pro19 grams, developing new funding sources, and re20 ducing subsidies that harm biodiversity in 

21 amounts commensurate with the scale of the 

22 harm to biodiversity. 

Æ 


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