2021 starts UN Decade of Ecosystem Recovery & EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030

Yeni Yakpo Dagmar Keim

Inspirations from around the world

The decline in biodiversity is one of the greatest challenges of our time. That is why Europe and the United Nations pay a lot of attention to it. The UN Biodiversity Summit will be held in Kunming, China, in October. It is already being called the 'Paris of nature'. It is important that good agreements are made because global biodiversity is declining rapidly. According to recent studies, at least 1 million species are on the brink of extinction, and that's a conservative estimate.

In European policy, the European Biodiversity Strategy is a pillar of the European Green Deal and aims to put Europe's biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030 at the latest. We can also contribute to increasing biodiversity in cities and learn from each other's solutions. Many initiatives can be found all over the world that try to find solutions for this issue.

Increasing biodiversity is not only good for nature. It improves the quality of life in cities, improves physical and mental health, retains CO2 and protects cities against the effects of climate change. For years, Europe has been paying special attention to greenery in cities by appointing the 'European Green Capital' each year. This prestigious prize is intended to encourage municipalities to make their city more sustainable and greener.