COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION Of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020
Date: 2022-09-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU strategy, biodiversity, climate change, environmental cooperation, environmental law, environmental protection, exploitation of the seas, land use, sustainable development

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.9.2022  SWD(2022) 285 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  Of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020  {SWD(2022) 284 final}  
 
 
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1. EU BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY TO 2020 

The  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  to  20201  (2011-20)  provided  a  framework  for  the  EU’s 
biodiversity  policy  and  for  implementing  its  global  commitments  under  the  Convention  on 
Biological Diversity.  

It set out the following 2020 targets and horizontal measures: 

Headline target: Halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU 
by 2020, and restore them in so far as feasible, while stepping up the EU contribution to averting 
global biodiversity loss. 

Target 1: Fully implement EU nature legislation 

Target 2: Maintain and restore ecosystems and their services 

Target 3: Increase the contribution of agriculture and forestry to biodiversity 

Target 4: Ensure sustainable fisheries and healthy marine ecosystems 

Target 5: Combat invasive alien species 

Target 6: Help avert global biodiversity loss 

Horizontal measures: Strengthen financing, partnerships and governance  

2. AIM AND APPROACH OF THE EVALUATION 

The purpose of this evaluation is to draw lessons that can help improve the design of future 
EU  biodiversity  policy  instruments.  To  this  end,  the  Commission  assessed  the  strategy’s 
effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value, using a set of evaluation 
questions2 and drawing on an extensive literature review, stakeholder consultations and case 
studies carried out in 10 EU Member States3.  

3. EVALUATION FINDINGS 

Biodiversity is the foundation of human life and prosperity, essential in our efforts to combat 
climate change and adapt to its inevitable impacts. However, the EU and its Member States 
have not succeeded in halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2020.  Biodiversity, and the 
flow  of  benefits  from  healthy  ecosystems,  have  continued  to  decline  both  in  the  EU4  and 
globally5.  

Many of the strategy’s actions have been delivered thanks to efforts at the EU, national and 
local  levels,  and  in  line  with  EU  legislation  and  policies  in  key  sectors.  As  a  result,  some 
species’  populations  have  recovered,  vulnerable  habitats  and  ecological  connectivity  have 
been  restored  locally,  and  advances  have  been  made  in  knowledge  and  stakeholder 
engagement.  

1 Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 (COM(2011) 244 final). 
2 See Evaluation Roadmap on the Commission’s Better Regulation portal. 
3 Trinomics B.V. (2021) Support to the evaluation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. Final study report. 

4 European Environment Agency (2020) State of Nature in the EU 2020, European Environment Agency (2020) 

European environment — state and outlook 2020. 

5 IPBES (2019)  Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity  and Ecosystem Services by  the  Intergovernmental 
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. 

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New  legislation  is  mobilising  a  coordinated  EU  response  to  the  growing  threat  of  invasive 
alien species. Together with its Member States, the EU has provided significant resources for 
global biodiversity. 

Investment  in  green  infrastructure  and  nature-based  solutions  has  created  high  socio-
economic value in employment, natural capital regeneration and quality of life. However, the 
full potential of such benefits has not been realised, due to a limited implementation effort.  

However, 
implementation: 

the  evaluation  found  a  number  of  significant  challenges  and  gaps 

in 

  Funding opportunities have increased in response to the biodiversity targets, but this 
increase  has  not  reached  the  level  needed  to  meet  the  financing  needs  and  reverse 
biodiversity  decline,  and  opportunities  provided  by  EU  instruments  have  not  been 
taken up fully in EU countries.  

 

In  the  context  of  limited  budgets  and  competing  demands,  biodiversity  targets  and 
support measures – especially those of a voluntary nature – have been insufficiently 
prioritised  and integrated into policy  and investment  decisions;  nor have there been 
robust  mechanisms  to  track  progress  at  EU  level  and  ensure  these  measures  are 
implemented.  

  More  engagement  by  stakeholders  is  necessary  to  develop  common  solutions,  trust 
and ownership for implementation. The lack of  a  clear framework of obligations  to 
ensure predictability and a level playing field has been seen by some stakeholders as 
an obstacle to engaging in implementation.  

  Data  and  knowledge  gaps  remain  on  ecosystem  condition  and  pressures,  and 
knowledge of the value of natural  capital has not been systematically integrated into 
policy and investment decisions.  

As a result, progress on the ground has been uneven, and the impact of targeted efforts has 
been limited by  continued pressures on biodiversity from  human  activities6. The impacts  of 
EU production, consumption and trade on biodiversity remain high.  

In conclusion, the framework provided by the strategy has helped raise ambition, coordinate 
action,  integrate  biodiversity  objectives  into  other  policy  areas,  and  mobilise  resources  for 
biodiversity.  

However,  the  strategy’s  targets  and  its  range  of  instruments  have  not  been  comprehensive, 
targeted and powerful enough to: 

 
tackle the main pressures on biodiversity,  
  encourage large-scale restoration efforts,  
  prioritise sustainable land and sea use across economic sectors, 
  ensure the deployment at scale of nature-based solutions,  
 

tap  into  synergies  with  other  policy  objectives  (including  on  climate  mitigation  and 
adaptation),  

  engage stakeholders in implementation.  

The  target  of  halting  and  reversing  biodiversity  loss  has  not  been  achieved  -  but  it  remains  highly 
relevant to the EU’s biodiversity, environmental and socio-economic needs.  

6 In particular related to land take and land use intensification, the over-extraction of biological resources (such 
as timber and fish), pollution (such as pesticides and nutrients), and the  increasing impacts of  climate change 
and invasive alien species. See EU Ecosystem assessment (JRC 2020). 

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4. LESSONS LEARNED AND FOLLOW UP 

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 20307 was adopted in May 2020. It responded to the high 
environmental  ambition  set  by  the  European  Green  Deal8,  and  drew  on  implementation 
experience9,  exchanges  with  stakeholders  and  emerging  findings  from  the  evaluation.  The 
following section summarises how key lessons derived from the evaluation of the strategy to 
2020  have  been  reflected  in  the  design  of  the  new  strategy,  as  well  as  in  related  follow-up 
actions. 

Lesson  1.  Effective  implementation  requires  specific,  measurable  targets  with  clear 
definitions, set timelines and assigned responsibilities for implementation.  

Clear, quantified and time-limited targets, including such set in key relevant EU instruments 
like the common fisheries policy, have helped to steer and accelerate progress to the 2020 EU 
biodiversity objectives.  

Response  –  The  strategy  for  2030  lays  out  a  comprehensive  framework  of  measurable  and 
time-bound  commitments,  with  clearly  indicated  responsibilities,  to  protect,  restore  and 
sustainably  manage  biodiversity  in  the  EU  and  support  global  biodiversity.  It  further  sets 
related time-bound actions and clearly indicates the responsibilities for their implementation. 
This  includes  enabling  measures  to  boost  implementation  and  the  necessary  societal 
transformation,  as  well  as  a  detailed  agenda  for  external  actions  in  support  of  global 
biodiversity.  Its  flagship  initiative,  a  Commission  proposal  for  a  new  EU  Regulation  on 
nature restoration10, aims to set concrete EU targets to restore degraded ecosystems. 

Lesson  2.  Well-designed  measures  for  biodiversity  protection,  restoration  and 
sustainable use can bring wider environmental and socio-economic benefits.  

Evidence  reviewed  in  the  course  of  the  evaluation  indicates  that  the  benefits  flowing  from 
healthy ecosystems far exceed the costs related to their protection, restoration and sustainable 
management,  across  all  biodiversity  targets.  Better  understanding  of  these  benefits  and  of 
approaches  to  tap  into  synergies  between  policy  objectives  -  for  example,  by  deploying 
nature-based  solutions  -  could  have  helped  to  mobilise  more  financing  and  support,  while 
contributing to wider policy objectives. There is also a clear need to strengthen links between 
EU action for global biodiversity and for sustainable development to achieve the SDGs. 

Response  –  the  strategy  for  2030  puts  a  strong  emphasis  on  the  potential  for  synergies 
between protecting and restoring biodiversity and wider environmental, social and economic 
objectives.  The  Commission’s  proposal  for  a  new  regulation  on  nature  restoration  aims  to 
deliver  benefits  for  biodiversity,  climate  mitigation  and  adaptation,  disaster  risk  reduction, 
health  and  the  provision  of  a  range  of  further  ecosystem  services  such  as  pollination  and 
erosion  protection.  Furthermore,  the  Covid-19  pandemic  raised  awareness  of  the  links 
between biodiversity and health, including the importance of access to nature for mental and 
physical health. The strategy envisages actions to strengthen these synergies, for example in 
the  greening  of  urban  ecosystems.  It  also  aims  to  significantly  reinforce  an  integrated 

7 EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030: bringing nature back into our lives (COM(2020) 380 final). 

8 European Green Deal (COM(2019) 640 final). 

9 Such as the Mid-term Review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 (COM/2015/478 final), the State of Nature in the EU (EEA Report 
No 10/2020), the European environment — state and outlook 2020 (SOER 2020) and the EU Ecosystem Assessment. 

10  Proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  nature  restoration 

(COM/2022/304 final). 

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approach  to  biodiversity  and  sustainable  development  in  EU  external  action,  as  well  as 
increasing coherence with internal EU policy developments. 

Lesson  3.  Action  to  halt  and  reverse  biodiversity  loss  needs  to  cover  the  range  of 
pressures on all main ecosystem types. 

The evaluation found that the 2020 biodiversity targets and actions were not comprehensive 
in  addressing  all drivers  of biodiversity loss across  the range of ecosystem  types, including 
key pressures such as land use changes, pollution or unsustainable maritime activities beyond 
overfishing. 

Response – the strategy for 2030 outlines a plan to restore and sustainably manage Europe’s 
ecosystems. For each ecosystem type, it sets targets and measures to minimise key pressures 
on biodiversity, and these have been mirrored in related policy initiatives, including the EU 
Farm to Fork Strategy, the EU Soil Strategy, the EU Forest Strategy and the EU Bioeconomy 
Strategy. They have also been taken into account in designing EU programmes and funding 
instruments under the 2021-27 multi-annual financial framework, which aims to ensure that 
EU investments ‘do no significant harm’, in line with the European Green Deal.  

Lesson  4.  A  mixture  of  policy  instruments  is  needed  to  deliver  the  biodiversity 
commitments. 

The evaluation found that the Strategy had played an important role in providing a coherent 
and strategic EU level framework of targets to foster political commitment and coordinated 
implementation. Within it, some voluntary mechanisms and incentives worked well, either on 
their own or in support of existing EU legislation. However, voluntary instruments alone did 
not  succeed  in  ensuring  sufficient  progress  to  the  biodiversity  targets.  The  evaluation 
revealed  that  a  lack  of  specific  binding  targets  often  led  to  a  failure  to  ensure  appropriate 
action at different levels of governance, in particular for ecosystem restoration.  

Response – the strategy for 2030 provides a coherent EU policy framework within which a 
range of policy instruments will help deliver its commitments. These include new legislation 
(where binding obligations are considered necessary – notably a Commission proposal for a 
Regulation  on  nature  restoration),  strengthened  partnerships,  guidance  and  financing,  and 
voluntary  instruments  to  incentivise  economic  actors  and  other  stakeholders  to  act  as 
required.  

Lesson 5. A substantial increase in funding for biodiversity is necessary, with a robust 
tracking system. 

The 2020 Strategy resulted in a significant increase in funding for biodiversity. However, it 
did not define clear biodiversity funding needs and targets, and was unable to ensure that the 
necessary funding was committed for all the action to be taken under the Strategy.  

Response  –  the  strategy  for  2030  set  out  to  meet  the  implementation  funding  needs  from 
private and public funding at national and EU level. It indicates the scale of funding needed 
for  its  implementation  and  sets  out  measures  to  meet  the  funding  needs,  from  private  and 
public  sources,  at  both  EU  and  national  level.  This  is  matched  by  an  increased  funding 
ambition for biodiversity in the EU budget for 2021-27, which aims to invest 7.5% of the EU 
budget in support of biodiversity in 2024, and 10% in 2026 and 2027. Biodiversity objectives 
and  measures  are  integrated  across  EU  funding  instruments,  including  in  the  Recovery  and 
Resilience Facility. Developing binding restoration obligations will strengthen the legal basis 
for  mobilising  funding  for  restoration  measures.  Improved  tracking  methodologies  for  EU 
funding programmes are under development. 

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Public  funding  is  essential  to  tackle  the  challenges  of  biodiversity  loss,  but  private  finance 
will also be necessary. As set out in the Strategy to Financing the Transition to a Sustainable 
Economy,  a  clear  and  robust  EU  sustainable  finance  framework  can  help  channel  private 
finance to support the transition to sustainability, including the EU biodiversity objectives. 

Lesson  6.  EU  programmes  and  instruments  should  be  biodiversity-proof  to  ensure  no 
significant harm. 
A  methodological  framework  was  developed  for  biodiversity-proofing  the  EU  budget11. 
However,  its  use  in  the  national  programming  of  EU  funds  has  remained  limited.  The 
evaluation indicates that integration with sectoral policies has been the strongest at the level 
of  broad  policy  objectives.  However,  the  methodology  for  biodiversity  proofing  was  not 
consistently  applied  at  the  national  level  to  eliminate  support  measures  that  encourage 
unsustainable land and sea use practices. 

Response – biodiversity-proofing frameworks are being improved and applied across specific 
sectors. The Commission has developed checklists of criteria to ensure that EU investments 
do no significant  harm to biodiversity in  line with  the do no significant  harm principle, for 
example in the context of the Recovery and Resilience Facility12. Strengthened biodiversity 
proofing  will  help  to  minimise  pressures  on  biodiversity  and  increase  the  contribution  of 
sectoral policies to biodiversity objectives, both at the EU level and in the EU countries.  

Lesson  7.  A  robust  biodiversity  governance  framework 
is  needed  to  ensure 
responsibility  for  implementation,  enforcement,  monitoring  and  review,  stakeholder 
engagement and evidence from research and science-based policy-making. 

Biodiversity  governance  was  strengthened  under  the  Strategy  to  2020,  yet  the  evaluation 
found  weaknesses  when  it  came  to  establishing  a  “whole  of  government  approach”, 
mobilising  broad  ownership  and  accountability  for  the  delivery  of  the  Strategy,  ensuring 
adequate capacity and funding, as well as effective progress reporting and review. 

Response – under the strategy for 2030, an enhanced governance framework is being set up 
tools  to  monitor 
including  a  transparent  progress-tracking  mechanism  with  public 
implementation of the actions and the delivery of the targets, and to enable regular progress 
reporting and review. In this new governance framework, research and science will be better 
connected with political decision-making through a new Science Service, funded by Horizon 
Europe,  and  a  new  Knowledge  Centre  for  Biodiversity13.  The  monitoring  and  review 
mechanism  will  be  further  developed  and  aligned  with  other  monitoring  frameworks  under 
EU  legislation  and  policies,  as  well  as  the  post-2020  global  biodiversity  framework. 
Coordination among EU and national actors, stakeholder engagement and the science-policy 
interface have been strengthened with the launch of the EU Biodiversity Platform14.  

Lesson 8. Knowledge, awareness, capacities and skills are crucial for supporting action 
on biodiversity across all parts of society, sectors and levels. 

The strategy to 2020 has helped to significantly improve the knowledge base on biodiversity 
and  ecosystem  services.  Nevertheless,  there  are  still  significant  gaps  in  knowledge  on 
biodiversity  and  ecosystems,  underlining  the  need  for  a  robust  biodiversity  observation 

11 Common Framework and Guidance Documents for Biodiversity proofing of the EU budget. 

12  Commission  Notice:  Technical  guidance  on  the  application  of  ‘do  no  significant  harm’  under  the  Recovery  and  Resilience  Facility 
Regulation (2021/C 58/01). 

13 Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity. 

14 Commission Expert Group EU Biodiversity Platform. 

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network and more consistent ecosystem condition reporting. Further effort is also needed to 
ensure that available knowledge reaches decision-makers and that it informs policy decisions 
and the design of policy tools. 

Response –  the strategy  for 2030 sets  out  actions to  strengthen biodiversity monitoring  and 
ecosystem  condition  assessment  for  a  more  robust  knowledge  base  for  biodiversity  policy, 
and  ensure  this  knowledge  is  available,  taken  up  and  used  in  designing  and  implementing 
biodiversity  measures.  Such  actions  include  for  example  a  Commission  proposal  on  new 
modules  for  European  environmental  economic  accounts15,  the  integrated  forest  monitoring 
system  envisaged  in  the  EU  Forest  Strategy  for  2030,  and  Horizon  Europe  projects  to 
strengthen biodiversity monitoring16.  

The  Knowledge  Centre  for  Biodiversity  will  play  a  key  role  in  this  process.  A  range  of 
initiatives will aim to ensure that actors across the board develop the knowledge, skills and 
attitudes to contribute to the green agenda, such as the Council Recommendation on Learning 
for  Environmental  Sustainability  and 
the  new  European  sustainability  competence 
framework17. 

Lesson  9.  Biodiversity  loss  and  climate  change  are  interlinked  and  need  to  be  tackled 
together. 

Nature  regulates 
the  climate,  and  nature-based  solutions,  such  as  protecting  and 
restoring wetlands,  peatlands and coastal  ecosystems, or sustainably managing marine areas, 
forests,  grasslands  and  agricultural  soils,  are  essential  for  emission  reduction  and  climate 
adaptation. The evaluation concluded that the potential for deploying nature based solutions 
has  not  been  sufficiently  used  to  achieve  synergies  between  improved  ecosystem  resilience 
and climate mitigation and adaptation. 

Response  –  the  strategy  for  2030  sets  out  measures  to  support  solutions  that  address  both 
biodiversity  and  climate  mitigation/adaptation,  including  the  proposal  for  a  regulation  on 
nature  restoration.  Such  solutions  have  also  been  integrated  in  key  EU  climate  policy  and 
legislative initiatives, including the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, the revision of the Land 
Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation and the Renewable Energy Directive. 

Conclusion 

As outlined above, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 did not succeed in putting in place a 
robust  governance  framework  that  could  ensure  urgent  implementation  efforts  at  scale, 
sufficient  financing  commitment  as  well  as  ownership  and  responsibility  by  all  actors  for 
delivering the biodiversity targets.  

The  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  for  2030  responds  to  these  weaknesses.  It  provides  a 
comprehensive EU framework with concrete, time-bound and measurable targets and a strong 
focus  on  win-win  solutions  for  biodiversity,  health,  climate  and  development,  as  well  as  a 
range of  policy  instruments  to  ensure their  delivery,  with  clearly  assigned responsibility for 
implementation.  

15  Commission  proposal  amending  Regulation  (EU)  No  691/2011  as  regards  introducing  new  environmental 

economic accounts modules (COM/2022/329 final). 

16 https://europabon.org/, https://www.biodiversa.org/ 

17 https://education.ec.europa.eu/focus-topics/green-education/learning-for-environmental-sustainability  

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Lessons  learnt  from  the  evaluation  have  also  fed  into  key  initiatives  under  the  EU 
Biodiversity  Strategy  for  2030,  in  particular  the  EU  proposal  for  binding  EU  nature 
restoration targets, the new EU biodiversity governance framework, EU guidance documents 
on  different  aspects  of  implementation  as  well  as  the  programming  of  EU  funding 
instruments. 

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