Why BIODIVERSITY must be prioritised within the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) in the new EU Budget

In July, Wetlands International Europe and its partners  published a statement stressing why biodiversity must be prioritised within the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) in the new EU Budget and asking for increased target for climate and environment relevant spending.

In the statement NGOs underlined the fact the NDICI can be considered and can act as  powerful tools to strengthen the EU’s role in addressing the many, interlinked challenges facing the world today, such as environmental degradation, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, deforestation and climate change, which contribute to growing inequalities and instability.

The EU as a global player has a responsibility to act and contribute to reversing  trends, such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss and the unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade. It is at the heart of the EU’s values, objectives and interests to continue to show leadership in promoting the sustainable management of natural resources, biodiversity protection and ecosystem resilience.

The new NDICI provides the perfect opportunity to implement this important component of the Green Deal and demonstrate global leadership by providing significant, transparent and long-term funding to support healthy people and the planet. As resource mobilization is critical for the success of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and a review of the current Strategy for Resource Mobilization, as well as an estimation of resources needed to implement the post-2020 framework will be released soon, we call onto the EU to come forward with precise commitments to support partner countries in protecting the world’s nature. We therefore recommend that the EU dedicates a high proportion of its future NDICI to addressing these challenges, in particular:

 ➢ An increased 50% target for climate AND environment relevant spending should be set under the NDICI, to deliver actions with clear and identifiable co-benefits across sectors;

➢ Within this 50% target for climate and environment relevant spending under the NDICI, a specific window of 10% for biodiversity should be defined. This will allow funding to be channelled directly to biodiversity and natural resource related priorities in support of partner countries’ efforts to pursue their own commitments under the CBD and related multilateral agreements, and to contribute to global public goods.

Read the full statement here