The EU has made progress towards the majority of its global biodiversity targets, with two already achieved, but faster implementation is needed to meet all targets by 2030, according to the EU’s 7th National Report on Biodiversity.
The report says the EU has advanced on the 45 targets it set under the Kunming - Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), a UN agreement adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and 2050, the European Commission said in a statement on Thursday.
EU targets submitted to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in August 2024 are aligned with the KMGBF’s 23 global targets, the report informed.
All parties to the CBD, including the EU and its Member States, are due to report progress by the end of February, with the results feeding into a global review at the CBD COP17 meeting in Armenia in October.
Nature restoration and new EU initiatives
The Nature Restoration Regulation, now in force, is part of the EU’s effort to translate biodiversity targets into action by requiring ecosystems to be restored, the Commission said.
A series of initiatives launched in 2025 include an EU Water Resilience Strategy, a European Ocean Pact and a new Bioeconomy Strategy covering sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture.
The Commission also cited a roadmap towards “nature credits” — a proposed approach intended to incentivise private investment in nature — as part of its 2025 package.
The EU and member states continue to play a major role in financing biodiversity action globally, alongside work supported by EU legislation and policies on conservation, restoration and sustainable use of ecosystems, according to the report.
Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall said the assessment found a “strong framework” was in place but that implementation “must now accelerate”, in a statement included in the report.
