Expressing the need for protecting and conserving at least 50 percent of the land, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems in the United States and encouraging diplomatic community efforts to achieve this goal worldwide.

Subjects: Environmental Protection


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 430 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 430

 Expressing the need for protecting and conserving at least 50 percent 
of the land, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems in the United States and 
     encouraging diplomatic community efforts to achieve this goal 
                               worldwide.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2023

   Mr. Beyer (for himself and Ms. Stansbury) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the need for protecting and conserving at least 50 percent 
of the land, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems in the United States and 
     encouraging diplomatic community efforts to achieve this goal 
                               worldwide.

Whereas the Earth is facing a crisis of biodiversity loss and species 
        extinction;
Whereas there has been an average 69-percent decrease in population sizes of 
        mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2018;
Whereas the recent global rate of species extinction is at least tens-to-
        hundreds of times higher than the average rate over the past ten million 
        years and has increased sharply since 1900;
Whereas today more than one million plants and animal species are threatened 
        with extinction;
Whereas climate change increases the risks of species extinction and 
        irreversible loss of biodiversity, presenting an existential crisis for 
        humans and millions of other species around the world;
Whereas human-driven changes in land and sea use are drivers of both 
        biodiversity loss and climate change;
Whereas ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, and mangroves can 
        sequester large amounts of carbon, and protecting these areas and their 
        wildlife populations can mitigate climate change by preventing carbon 
        from being released into the atmosphere;
Whereas conserving and restoring natural ecosystems provides greater net 
        economic benefits than destroying natural spaces and wildlife for 
        profit;
Whereas industries that do not harm biodiversity, such as the outdoor recreation 
        industry that supported 4.5 million jobs across the United States and 
        accounted for $862 billion in gross output in 2021, enable individuals 
        to have meaningful careers outside in nature;
Whereas establishing protected natural areas can contribute many benefits to 
        people, including by--

    (1) mitigating effects of climate change and buffering the impacts of 
extreme weather events;

    (2) providing cleaner drinking water;

    (3) reducing air pollution;

    (4) being a source of new medicines;

    (5) reducing local rates of infectious diseases and broader risk of 
zoonotic spillover that can contribute to pandemics; and

    (6) supporting pollinators and other beneficial species for food 
production, globally valued at up to more than five hundred billion 
dollars;

Whereas access to nature ensures cultural and spiritual enrichment, as well as 
        physical and mental health benefits;
Whereas all life depends on essential ecosystems, and, therefore, damaging or 
        erasing them can have a profound impact on biodiversity and human health 
        and well-being;
Whereas inequitable policies have led to a targeted denuding of biodiversity in 
        communities of color, low-income communities, and Tribal communities, 
        creating great harm and preventing these communities from having equal 
        access to the benefits of biodiversity;
Whereas the degradation and destruction of natural habitat is the primary cause 
        of biological diversity loss at every level;
Whereas only by the preservation and conservation of substantial, more natural, 
        intact habitat than previously envisioned can human-driven extinctions 
        be eliminated;
Whereas the late American biologist E.O. Wilson estimated that protecting half 
        of the Earth's surface would ensure the sustainable persistence of 85 
        percent of the planet's species, and with it, global biodiversity;
Whereas the conservation science community has developed robust tools to inform 
        the identification of natural habitats that provide the best opportunity 
        to safeguard species;
Whereas area-based conservation goals are key to averting biodiversity loss and 
        can be achieved through collaborative efforts, including--

    (1) public-private partnerships, which play a notable role in 
conservation within the United States and around the world;

    (2) stewardship of local communities on the ground and indigenous 
peoples, honoring their rights to lands, territories, and resources; and

    (3) international cooperation; and

Whereas the America the Beautiful Initiative and its goal of conserving 30 
        percent of land, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems in the United States 
        by 2030 is a crucial first step to protecting biodiversity and 
        mitigating the effects of climate change: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the Earth is facing an imminent crisis from the 
        extinction of species and the decline of biodiversity; and
            (2) Congress should work to support protecting and 
        conserving at least 50 percent of the land, freshwater, and 
        ocean ecosystems in the United States and encourage diplomatic 
        community efforts to achieve this goal worldwide, including 
        early and often stakeholder consultation to ensure just impacts 
        and transition.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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