The European Green Deal (EGD) covers a number of environmental strategies and actions under eight broad categories: Climate, Environment and Oceans, Agriculture, Research & Innovation, Energy, Finance & Regional Development, Industry and Transport. Many of these relate, directly or indirectly, to global biodiversity governance.

Environment and Oceans: EGD and global biodiversity governance

The main EGD priorities under this category are:

• Protecting our biodiversity and ecosystems
• Reducing air, water and soil pollution
• Moving towards a circular economy
• Improving waste management
• Ensuring the sustainability of our blue economy and fisheries sectors

These priorities are of course strongly inter-related, and the strategies addressing them have significant impact on each other.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 (EU BDS-2030) is the most directly relevant for global biodiversity governance. It underscores an ambitious global biodiversity agenda as its fourth pillar, including the mainstreaming of biodiversity throughout bilateral and multilateral engagements via the EU’s ‘Green Deal diplomacy,’ and forthcoming green alliances. The specific objectives of the fourth pillar are:

• Raise the level of ambition and commitment worldwide in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework:
  • Promote global biodiversity goals in line with the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the vision of "living in harmony with nature": a world committed to giving nature more than it takes away, and global ecosystems restored, resilient and protected by 2050
  • Address drivers of biodiversity loss via ambitious, specific, measurable, actionable and time-bound 2030 global targets
  • Strengthen implementation, monitoring and review procedures; all Parties submit national commitments, revise national strategies/action plans by the end of 2021; review cycles based on independent science-based analysis
  • Enable a framework of finance, capacity, research, innovation and technology towards attaining said goals and targets
  • Ensure equitable benefit-sharing of biodiversity-related genetic resources
  • Promote an equality principle, respect for indigenous and local communities, securing their rights and participation as well as that of all other stakeholders
• Using external action to promote the EU’s ambition via:
  • International Ocean Governance: the EU prioritises protecting and sustainably using marine biodiversity, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), and support for Small Island Developing States. It co-proposed two of three vast Marine Protected Areas in the Southern Ocean, potentially one of the biggest acts of nature protection in history. Its agenda includes combating overfishing via international negotiations, cautioning against deep-sea mining before adequate impact assessment, and advocating more transparency in relevant international bodies
  • Trade policy: elaborated here
  • International cooperation, neighbourhood policy and resource mobilisation: greater cooperation with partners, increased support and financing, and phasing out of subsidies harmful to biodiversity will be key. The EU will emphasize biodiversity conservation, restoration, sustainable use and mainstreaming in all development and partnership policies. It will promote ecosystem protection and restoration via sustainable agriculture/fisheries and water resource management. Coupled with reducing wildlife trade and consumption, this will also help prevent and build resilience against diseases and pandemics. The EU will develop and support projects for biodiversity protection worldwide, promote global biodiversity coalitions and strengthen the links between biodiversity protection and human rights

With BDS-2030, the EU plans to lead efforts towards an ambitious global framework for post-2020 at COP-15 of the CBD. Progress on EU BDS 2030 will be reviewed by 2024.

Many of the other strategies in this EGD category (Environment and Oceans) also impact global biodiversity, albeit more indirectly, including:

The Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) outlines EU aims to lead global efforts on circular economy. In March 2020 the Commission proposed a global alliance to identify knowledge and governance gaps in advancing a global circular economy and take forward partnership initiatives. The Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency (GACERE), initiated by the EC and UNEP in coordination with UNIDO, was launched in February 2021. Bringing together governments and relevant networks and organisations, GACERE aims to provide global impetus for building on international initiatives on the circular economy transition, resource efficiency, and sustainable consumption and production.

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability proposes actions including "playing a leading role globally by championing and promoting high standards and not exporting chemicals banned in the EU." The EU already has sophisticated chemicals laws in place, but global chemicals production is expected to double by 2030. The already widespread use of chemicals will also increase, including in consumer products.

Climate: EGD and global biodiversity governance

The EU's international climate action under the EGD includes its participation in the UNFCCC and other formal intergovernmental bodies, as well as other forms of climate diplomacy (see under International Engagement). It also includes the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, which prioritises stepping up EU international action for climate resilience and preparedness by providing resources, prioritising action and increasing effectiveness by scaling up international finance and enhancing global engagement. The importance of ecosystems for climate change adaptation has long been emphasized within the EC, for instance in the EC White Paper on Adapting to Climate Change – Towards a European Framework for Action.

Agriculture: EGD and global biodiversity governance

The EU's international action on sustainable agriculture and food systems under the EGD is enshrined in its Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) whose main aims include the reversal of biodiversity loss and the promotion of a global transition to sustainable food systems. As the world's biggest importer and exporter of agri-food products and its largest seafood market, the EU cannot achieve this transition without the rest of the world. Commodity production can have negative environmental and social impacts in producer countries. The EU will collaborate with third countries and international actors to tighten global sustainability standards and avoid the externalisation and export of unsustainable practices, including those leading to biodiversity loss. Among the EU's prioritised international cooperation initiatives under the F2F strategy are food research and innovation enabling climate change adaptation and mitigation, agro-ecology, sustainable landscape management and land governance, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and resilience and risk preparedness. The EU will promote the global transition at upcoming international events such as the CBD's COP-15, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the UN Food Systems Summit.

Key EU legal instruments relevant for global biodiversity governance

EU Strategies, Directives, Communications and other legal instruments relevant to global biodiversity governance, many of which have been cited in the above text on EU policies, are listed on this page.