Activities of Eleni THEOCHAROUS related to 2015/2137(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the mid-term review of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy
Amendments (10)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the EU is responsible for some of the loss and degradation of biodiversityhabitat fragmentation, degradation and destruction due to land- use change, climate change and the use of the seas are some of the main pressures and drivers causing biodiversity loss in the EU and beyond its borders, and that making the EU’'s economy more resource- efficient is imperative also for this reason;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes with concern that rising EUinternational demand for woody biomass risks threatening biodiversity and forest ecosystems on which poor people in developing countries depend for their livelihood; calls for the EU to develop an EU action plan on deforestation and forest degradation which is applicable at the global level;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Deplores the current absence ofUrges that social and environmental sustainability criteria for biomass production withinform a coherent part of the framework of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED); deems it crucial to develop international, legally binding sustainability standards for all sectors of biomass use, together with binding sustainable forest management criteria;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Urgently calls on the Commission and Member States to give priority to achieving the 2020 targets; calls for a multi-stakeholder approach and stresses the vital role of regional and local actors in this regard; stresses that greater public awareness of and support for biodiversity are also essential;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that the expansion of agrofuels has relied overwhelmingly on the expansion of large-scale industrial monoculture, therebyfor biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without adversely affecting the environment or social sustainability, they must be produced in a sustainable way; stresses that unsustainable expansion of agrofuels extendings agricultural practices that are harmful for the environment, biodiversity, soil fertility and water availability and affect nutrient factors; urges the Commission to reviewensure that the EU’'s policy on biofuels so as to ensureis in coherence with the commitments the EU has entered into under the Convention on Biological Diversity, with climate policy and commitments (including those entered into at COP 21), and with the objectives of the UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) programme;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. UrgesCalls upon the Commission to ensure that the EU’s commitments to farmers’ rights in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture are reflected in all technical assistance and financial support for seed policy development; calls for the EU, in line with the EU food security policy framework, also to support intellectual property rights regimes that enhance the development of locally adapted seed varieties and farmer- saved seeds;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls for a measurable improvement of the biodiversity status in agriculture by taking into account the Commission’s findings in its mid-term reviews of the CAP;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that trade agreements, land grabbing, monoculture, meat overconsumption and industrial livestock farmingclimate change, habitat modification, invasive species, grazing pressures, changed hydrology, land grabbing, monoculture, are exerting growing pressure on biodiversity worldwide, as they result in land fragmentation and loss of habitats;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for the EU to reduce its biodiversity footprint worldwide and to bring it within the ecological limits of ecosystems by making its trade and other relevant policies consistent with itsprogressing on achieving Biodiversity Headline Targets and fulfilling the commitments on biodiversity protection;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses the importance of systematically identifying and evaluating potential impacts on biodiversity resulting from the liberalisation of trade a; calls on the European Commission to follow on find investment, through ex-ante trade sustainability impact assessments and ex- post evaluations; calls for the EU to include in all new trade agreements an enforceable chapter on sustainable development, including biodiversity goalsgs resulting from a study on the "Identification and mitigation of the negative impacts of EU demand for certain commodities on biodiversity in third countries" by proposing possible ways to contribute to avoiding or minimising the loss of global biodiversity which is caused by certain production and consumption patterns in the EU.