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European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Commissioner Roswall's address at a High-level side-event at CBD COP17, “Restoring nature – from commitments to action” Yerevan, 28 October 2026 Excellencies, distinguished guests, Let me start with a simple but powerful truth. Our natural world is the bedrock of our economic security, our food and energy security, our health, and more. In case there was any doubt...
European Commission - Speech [Check Against Delivery] Commissioner Roswall's address at a High-level side-event at CBD COP17, “Restoring nature – from commitments to action” Yerevan, 28 October 2026 Excellencies, distinguished guests, Let me start with a simple but powerful truth. Our natural world is the bedrock of our economic security, our food and energy security, our health, and more. In case there was any doubt, many of us were given a stark reminder this past summer – in the form of drought, extreme heat and devastating wildfires. The message was very clear. Healthy ecosystems are the guarantor of our long-term prosperity and resilience. We urgently need to do more to protect and restore them. And we need to move beyond commitments to concrete action and delivery. So, I am delighted to join today's event. In this room, we have the political capital and expertise to bring about real change. And I want to thank the European Environment Agency and IUCN for bringing us together. The first global review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework shows that restoration is underway. But not at the pace or scale required to meet Target 2 – the effective restoration of at least 30% of degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine ecosystems by 2030. The proposed Yerevan Pathway aims to solve this problem But this isn't a straightforward task. We have to protect healthy nature. Reduce the pressures on our environment. Help degraded ecosystems to recover. Improve ecological connectivity across land and sea. And support those who live and work in nature. The European Union's Nature Restoration Regulation weaves these different strands together into a common goal – to deliver effective restoration measures on at least 20% of our land and sea by 2030. Even if it's expressed in a different way, it's aligned with Target 2: Restoration based on clear commitments, careful planning, adequate financing, deep collaboration and measured progress. Our Member States are currently submitting draft National Restoration Plans. We are also building on more than 30 years of experience – so we already know many of the pillars of effective restoration. It requires an ecosystem of actors, working together. And it demands coordination across governments and between sectors. Farmers, foresters, fishers, and landowners need to be involved in the design and supported in the implementation of restoration efforts. So too do Indigenous People and local communities. Demonstrating the short and long-term benefits is also essential for sustained commitment and support. Thankfully, we have the evidence to prove that restoration works. In Belgium and the Netherlands, restoring wetlands and reconnecting rivers is reduced flood risk and creating new economic opportunities. Restoration in Spain and Portugal has reduced wildfire risks. In Latvia, the restoration of grasslands is benefitting farmers. Other projects have restored degraded peatlands, seagrass meadows and more. Our job is to build on this experience and deliver successful approaches on a much wider scale. Fortunately, governments are beginning to commit more resources to the task. In Denmark, for example, a fund of nearly 6 billion euro (5.8 bn) will support changes in land use, including peatland restoration. More leaders recognise that investing in ecosystems means investing in our economies and our societies. According to the World Economic Forum, more than half of global GDP depends on nature. And according to the European Central Bank, almost 3 out of 4 European companies is critically dependent on at least one ecosystem service. So restoring nature supports our economy and pays off. But these benefits depend on restoring in the right places in the right ways. On balancing multiple objectives, like climate mitigation, resilience and food security. And on maintaining the results over time. Counting hectares under restoration is a start, but we also need evidence that ecosystems and biodiversity are recovering. FAO's work on Target 2 monitoring is helping countries build that evidence. And that's also why our Nature Restoration Regulation includes monitoring and reporting obligations. This is an important contribution to our work to make Europe more climate resilient. Just yesterday the Commission adopted a new EU climate resilience framework. In all of this, financing is key. Public finance is essential, including for those carrying out the work. However, public funding alone cannot cover the costs. We must maximise limited resources in a world of competing priorities. And we must leverage private finance. The EU is exploring how credible nature credits might attract private funding. We also need to ask bigger questions about where funding goes – and to what end. UNEP estimates that nature-negative finance reached around 6.5 trillion euro (USD 7.3 tr) in 2023. That's roughly 30 times higher than investment in nature-based solutions. It means that we're trying to swim upstream in a storm, while the river floods. And it highlights an important point: Achieving the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) requires aligning financial flows with nature-positive development. And it means ensuring that nature has a seat in corporate boardrooms and a place on corporate balance sheets. Excellencies, colleagues, We need to lift national biodiversity strategies and restoration plans off the page and onto the ground. We need to support the people who carry out this vital work. And we need to collaborate. International partnerships can help countries learn from one another. And International cooperation can help us act faster. Today's event is an opportunity to strengthen both. The European Union has made a binding commitment. We are learning through implementation, and we are ready to work with partners everywhere. Restoration cannot just be about setting ambitions. It is about delivering them, together, at the scale and speed that nature and people demand. Thank you. SPEECH/26/2280 <@rel_link@>
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