Arnold Jacques de Dixmude
International Cooperation Officer, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Sector
Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development – EuropeAid
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Updates on EuropeAid's international cooperation system The foundations of the EU development policy lie in the Lisbon Treaty: article 21 TEU and article 208 TFEU. Poverty reduction is the primary objective of EU development cooperation and the EU is committed to reach to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
With the view to take into consideration evolutions that occurred over the last decennium in the field of development and to increase the impact and efficiency of EU development policy, the Commission issued in October 2011 the "Agenda for Change" Communication, which constitutes the current policy framework for EU action.
Its main objective is to focus EU support in countries where it can have the greatest impact, and concentrate development cooperation in support of: human rights, democracy and other key elements of good governance and inclusive and sustainable growth for human development. In order to ensure best value for money, this should be accompanied by: differentiated development partnerships, coordinated EU action and improved coherence among EU policies.
Valuing and investing in natural capital is a key policy objective in this current EU development policy framework: "development is not sustainable if it damages the environment, biodiversity or natural resources". In this sense, EU development policy will promote a "green economy that can generate growth, create jobs and help reduce poverty by valuing and investing in natural capital". The EU understands that conservation of ecosystems and poverty eradication are intrinsically linked and must be tackled together.
On the other hand, Target 6 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 states that, by 2020, the EU has stepped up its contribution to averting global biodiversity loss. This includes four specific actions, as follows: - (action 17) reduce indirect drivers of biodiversity loss;
- (action 18) mobilise additional resources for global biodiversity conservation;
- (action 19) ‘biodiversity‑proof’ EU development cooperation;
- (action 20) regulate access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use.
The EU Development Cooperation is delivered through several funds or funding instruments, of which the main ones are: - The European Development Fund (EDF): constitutes the bulk of geographic cooperation (bilateral and regional) with ACP countries (currently the 11th EDF has been replenished by Member States for the 2014-2020 framework.
- The Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) – geographic programmes: provides funds for bilateral and regional programmes with Latin-America and Asia.
- The Development Cooperation Instrument – thematic programmes: provides funds to focus on specific (thematic) matters. The Global Public Goods and Challenges thematic programme (GPGC) covers five priority areas: Environment and climate change; Food security and sustainable agriculture; Sustainable energy; Investing in people (education, health, culture); Asylum and migration.
- The European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI): provides funds for bilateral and regional programmes with (non-EU) countries from the Mediterranean basin and Eastern Europe.
Examples of biodiversity projects funded by European Union in 2014-2015 A significant share of the biodiversity projects that have been committed in 2014-2015 are funded by resources from the 'Global Public Goods and Challenges' thematic programme. A few examples of these are: - BEST 2.0: a support to civil society organisations of the EU Overseas Countries and Territories for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of ecosystem services.
- GBIF: Global Biodiversity Information Facility. GBIF’s Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) will focus on enhancing capacity and mobilizing data from countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The funding will support two specific areas of activity. (1) GBIF will identify needs and priorities for biodiversity information for each target region through studies, workshops and assessment of existing capacity. (2) BID’s individual projects will expand on existing biodiversity information networks and implement best practices in gathering and sharing policy-relevant biodiversity information in decision-making.
- Páramo: biodiversity and water resources in the Nothern Andes. This project aims at securing the protection of seven key páramo areas in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, with view to ensuring the sustainable supply of drink water for nearby towns. An active involvement of local communities in the management of those resources is a key component of this project, managed by the Instituto von Humboldt.
Other programmes in the pipe-line are: Moreover, multi-year indicative programming of the 11th EDF will provide for significant resources for biodiversity in three ACP countries in particular: DRC, Chad and Ethiopia.
Biodiversity-related funding policies and programmes  The 'Biodiversity for Life' Flagship Initiative (B4Life) was launched one year ago and was presented in a side-event at COP-12 in Pyeongchang. This flagship initiative aims at putting EuropeAid's priorities in terms of biodiversity and ecosystems services in line with its overall development cooperation policy (Agenda for Change). At the same time, it is also meant to contribute to a better coherence and more visibility of all the EU investments and commitments that target biodiversity and ecosystem services across its various development cooperation funding instruments and programmes.
Under the framework of this flagship, a latest development by EuropeAid has been the elaboration of a Strategic Approach to Wildlife Conservation in Subsaharan Africa. This provides a comprehensive survey of the state-of-play in wildlife conservation and its principal threats, including the alarming outbreak of poaching and illegal trade. Based on this and on an overview of existing actions and resources, it proposes priority actions and measures as well as 'key landscapes for conservation' (KLC) to which conservation efforts should be steered in priority. This Strategic Approach was shared with a large number of stakeholders and practitioners in the field, and has been endorsed by over 70 public and private organisations.
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