IOGP position on EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030

This paper provides IOGP’s views and policy recommendations on the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 based on IPIECA-IOGP Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Working Group (BESWG) research, industry engagement and good practice guidance.

IOGP shares the global ambition to address biodiversity loss in the framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development and supports the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

IOGP, through the joint IPIECA-IOGP BESWG has been working for 20 years to continuously improve BES management with the oil and gas industry, recognizing that some industry activities may take place in or near sensitive environments and may affect the natural environment.

• All stakeholders should be considered and consulted through the process of defining new biodiversity conservation frameworks and reporting metrics
• The private sector plays an important role in the implementation of biodiversity management strategies in Europe and at a global level to achieve a transformative change. The EU should engage the private sector to develop clear mechanisms for businesses to contribute to the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
• The new or revised regulatory framework should be informed by ecological science, built on existing EU or international frameworks, and should apply assessment methodologies and conservation practices, that have already proven to be effective in conserving marine and terrestrial biodiversity
• The legal status, key definitions and objectives should be clearly determined and conservation outcomes should be measurable
• Oil and gas operations, along with other economic operations, can be compatible with a protection status provided good Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services management practices are implemented in support of conservation objectives

• Introduction
• Post-2020 global biodiversity framework
• The EU regulatory framework for conservation of nature and biodiversity
• Protected areas
• Methods, criteria and standards to measure and report on BES
• EU nature restoration plan