The need to assess progress in the implementation of the Bern Convention
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate
on 13 April 2011 (15th Sitting) (see Doc. 12459, report of the Committee
on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs,
rapporteur: Mr Lotman). Text adopted by the Assembly on 13 April
2011 (15th Sitting). See also Recommendation
1964 (2011).
- Thesaurus
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to the ceremony of the 30th anniversary of the Standing Committee of
the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural
Habitats (Bern Convention, ETS No. 104), to the International Year
of Biodiversity 2010 and to the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity
2011-2020, to its
Recommendation
1918 (2010) on biodiversity and climate change, and to
the declaration jointly signed by the Assembly, the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the Conference
of INGOs of the Council of Europe on the occasion of European Biodiversity
Day on 28 April 2010.
2. In this respect, the Assembly deeply regrets that depletion
of biological diversity is currently taking place faster than natural
extinction, reflecting the global political failure to meet the
2010 Biodiversity Target and stop biodiversity loss by 2010 as stipulated
at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity in 2002.
3. In its broadest sense, the environment concerns both human
beings and their surrounding natural habitat, to the extent that
they form a single entity that is ecologically balanced and conducive
to development. The Assembly refers to Principle 1 of the Stockholm
Declaration (United Nations Conference on the Human Environment,
1972) which states: “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality
and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality
that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears solemn responsibility
to protect and improve the environment, for present and future generations.”
4. The Assembly recalls its
Recommendation 1885 (2009) on drafting
an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights
concerning the right to a healthy environment and Resolution 10/4
of the United Nations Human Rights Council on human rights and climate
change and the explanatory study of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/10/61), and stresses that
any degradation in delivery of ecosystem services will closely affect
a wide range of universally recognised human rights and fundamental
freedoms, namely the right to life and to food, access to water,
health, adequate housing, right to property and land use.
5. Both the Assembly and the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention
have already identified and fought activities that are harmful to
the environment in various places in Europe, including those affecting
fragile ecological areas. The Assembly hereby reaffirms its resolutions
and recommendations concerning concrete issues of environmental
protection, such as
Resolution
1444 (2005) on protection of European deltas, and
Recommendation 1837 (2008) on
the fight against harm to the environment in the Black Sea. It also
calls for the full implementation of the Bern Convention Standing
Committee’s recommendations.
6. Moreover, according to the case law of the European Court
of Human Rights, environmental degradation, depletion of biological
diversity and alteration of ecosystems also indirectly affect other
human rights protected under the European Convention on Human Rights
(ETS No. 5), namely: respect for private and family life as well
as the home (Article 8); access to justice and an effective remedy
(Article 13); freedom of expression and the right to receive and
impart information and ideas (Article 10).
7. According to scientific studies, Europe is projected to experience
warming greater than the global mean warming, with winter warming
greatest in northern Europe and summer warming greatest in the Mediterranean region,
in both cases double the levels of the projected global mean warming.
Changes in habitats, species, their geographical spread, their migratory
patterns and ultimately the composition and functioning of European ecosystems
will inevitably also affect their ability to deliver the various
services upon which human society depends.
8. While mitigation measures for the reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions are essential for reducing the negative impacts on
the environment and biodiversity in the medium and long term, concrete
measures are also necessary to facilitate adaptation of natural
and managed ecosystems to ongoing processes resulting from climate
change. Spontaneous adaptation will not be sufficient to reduce
impacts on biodiversity at all levels, in particular on vulnerable
ecosystems and for long-term human well-being.
9. The Assembly therefore considers that strong measures to protect
habitats, flora and fauna, as well as good management and extension
of existing networks of conservation areas will be vital to any
successful national and European strategies for biodiversity conservation
in the face of climate change.
10. The Assembly welcomes the initiative of the European Union
aimed at drafting the post-2010 European Union biodiversity strategy
in consultation with citizens, stakeholders, public administration,
business and civil society, with a view to stepping up the European
Union contribution to averting global biodiversity loss.
11. In this respect, the Assembly calls upon the European Union
and the relevant member states of the Council of Europe to step
up their efforts to increase their contribution in order to meet
the Global Biodiversity Target set by the Parties to the Convention
on Biological Diversity, and especially to implement the recommendations
and resolutions of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.
