Title: Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a national biodiversity strategy for protecting biodiversity for current and future generations.
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
This resolution calls for the federal government to establish a national biodiversity strategy, which must include a goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters to protect biodiversity and address climate change by 2030 and other goals necessary to reduce the threats to biodiversity.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 69 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 69

Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a national 
   biodiversity strategy for protecting biodiversity for current and 
                          future generations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2021

Mr. Neguse (for himself, Mr. Lowenthal, and Mr. Huffman) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 Earth's ecosystems 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;

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

    (5) introducing invasive species;

Whereas these studies have shown that human-driven threats have harmed 
        biodiversity by--

    (1) threatening approximately one million species with extinction now 
and in the coming decades, including--

    G    (A) over 40 percent of amphibians;

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

    G    (C) over 60 percent of cycads and over 30 percent of conifer 
trees; and

    G    (D) about 10 percent of over 5 million insect species; and

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

    G    (A) an average of 68 percent for mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, 
and reptiles;

    G    (B) nearly 3 billion birds in North America since 1970;

    G    (C) about 50 percent for live corals; and

    G    (D) an average of over 20 percent overall;

Whereas human activity is accelerating the decline of important economic and 
        cultural services, with--

    (1) the productivity of nearly one-fourth of the land surface reduced;

    (2) over one-third of land surface and 75 percent of freshwater 
resources devoted to crop or livestock production;

    (3) about half a trillion dollars of global crops at risk from 
pollinator loss;

    (4) one-third of marine fisheries overfished, 60 percent fished at 
capacity, and just 7 percent fished below capacity; and

    (5) 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 such as 
        zoonotic disease buffering, pollination, water filtration, soil 
        replenishment, the provision of game species, medicinal products, 
        recreational opportunities, and others;
Whereas communities of color, low-income communities, Tribal communities, and 
        other populations that have been systematically and deliberately 
        targeted for siting environmentally degrading activities, and excluded 
        from conservation efforts, face disproportionate impacts from 
        biodiversity loss;
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 
        Federal Government's conservation efforts and collaboration with the 
        States, local governments, 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 the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 
Convention on Migratory Species, and other relevant international 
agreements;

    (2) does not issue a 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 at least 30 percent of an ecologically representative area of 
the Nation's and the world's lands, freshwaters, and oceans by 2030 by 
working collaboratively with governments, 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 no higher than needed for 
sustainable, ecologically, and safe food production; and

    (5) addressing the threats posed by invasive species: Now, therefore, 
be it

    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) it is in the national interest for the Federal 
        Government to establish a national biodiversity strategy to--
                    (A) ensure the conservation and restoration of the 
                Nation's biodiversity;
                    (B) secure and restore the ecosystem services 
                provided by nature for current and future generations;
                    (C) deliver on the United Nations Sustainable 
                Development Goals;
                    (D) set ambitious yet necessary goals for 
                protecting biodiversity in the coming decades;
                    (E) promote social equity and justice in the 
                conservation of the Nation's biodiversity;
                    (F) coordinate the actions of Federal agencies to 
                advance the conservation of biodiversity;
                    (G) promote collaboration among the Federal, State, 
                and Tribal governments, nongovernmental stakeholders, 
                civil society, and international cooperation to advance 
                conservation;
                    (H) honor the Federal trust obligations to Tribal 
                nations and Native Americans; and
                    (I) provide global leadership in addressing the 
                biodiversity crisis; and
            (2) the national biodiversity strategy should include 
        direction on--
                    (A) setting a national goal of conserving at least 
                30 percent of United States lands and waters to protect 
                biodiversity and address climate change by 2030, 
                supporting international efforts to achieve the same 
                goal on a global scale, and setting other goals 
                necessary to reduce the threats to biodiversity as 
                indicated by the best available scientific information;
                    (B) taking action to protect threatened, 
                endangered, and at-risk species from further 
                imperilment or extinction;
                    (C) climate adaptation and mitigation strategies 
                for biodiversity conservation, including--
                            (i) joining and leading international 
                        agreements to combat climate change, including 
                        the Paris Agreement;
                            (ii) establishing climate refugia and 
                        climate corridors for conservation of species 
                        affected by climate change; and
                            (iii) the rapid build-out of renewable 
                        energy;
                    (D) reviewing existing laws, plans, programs, and 
                strategies that are relevant to addressing threats to 
                biodiversity to assess how they can contribute to the 
                objectives of this resolution and, as found necessary, 
                to recommend new laws, plans, programs, and strategies;
                    (E) ensuring integration of biodiversity protection 
                across the activities of the Federal Government, 
                including foreign policy and foreign assistance;
                    (F) advancing conservation in collaboration with 
                the State and Tribal governments and on private lands 
                through incentives, funding, technical support, and 
                partnerships;
                    (G) incorporating indigenous knowledge and 
                practices to support conservation and biodiversity, 
                safeguarding the rights and needs of indigenous 
                peoples, and ensuring fulfillment of the Federal trust 
                obligations that apply to government decisionmaking 
                that impacts the interests of Native Americans;
                    (H) means to ensure equitable access to nature, 
                inclusive decisionmaking on biodiversity protection, 
                and just allocations of resources to achieve the goals 
                of this resolution, including for systematically and 
                deliberately targeted populations such as communities 
                of color, low-income communities, and Native American 
                communities;
                    (I) establishing regular monitoring and reporting 
                on the status of biodiversity, in the Nation and 
                globally, including a quadrennial assessment reported 
                to Congress and the American people;
                    (J) prioritizing programs to identify knowledge 
                gaps and accelerate research and development of new 
                conservation solutions across sectors;
                    (K) assessing and integrating the United States 
                role in international biodiversity, ecosystem services, 
                and nature conservation in national security and 
                foreign policy strategies, including in international 
                development policies, planning and finance, diplomatic 
                dialogues, and trade agreements, and advancing global 
                adoption of and progress towards the ``30x30'' goal; 
                and
                    (L) funding existing conservation programs, 
                developing new funding sources, and reducing subsidies 
                that harm biodiversity, in amounts commensurate with 
                the scale of the challenge.
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