Understanding the perceptions of and improving communication on the biodiversity crisis and nature restoration benefits to sustain citizen engagement and democratic governance

Under destination “Biodiversity and ecosystem services”, R&I in 2025 provides scientific support to the development and implementation of EU environmental legislation and of European Green Deal initiatives, in line with the new Commission priority “Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature”.

This destination is based on the vision developed in the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and supports its implementation, pursuing the orientations of the Work Programmes 2021-2022 and 2023-2024, and notably focuses on the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and other new European Green Deal initiatives such as the proposal for an EU soil monitoring and resilience law, the proposal for an EU forest monitoring law and the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities (specifically the Environmental Delegated Act) and the EU action plan: protecting and restoring marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries. R&I activities continue to support the environmental objectives of the common agricultural policy and reflect the strong interconnections between the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and the European Green Deal objectives for a competitive, resilient and sustainable agri-food system, including the pollinators initiative.

R&I on biodiversity and ecosystems services, if translated into action, contribute to a clean environment for the EU and Associated Countries, including water, soil, air, health, climate adaptation and risk (including disaster risk) reduction, sustainable bioeconomy and blue economy policies.

This destination also contributes to the twin green and digital transition. Where relevant, advantage should be taken of the use of advanced digital technologies and tools such high-performance computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Environmental Observation where appropriate.

This destination supports the EU leadership in the relevant international fora and develops analysis and tools to reach our international biodiversity commitments, such as those taken in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), in line with the new Commission priorities. It will in particular support the monitoring framework of the GBF. Its activities serve the objectives of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and of the potential International/Intergovernmental Panel for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS).

Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway contributing to “putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services” of the Strategic Plan 2025-2027, and more specifically to one or more of the following impacts:

• improved knowledge, innovations, methods, pathways and tools are available to protect healthy ecosystems and to restore degraded ones ensuring the provision of ecosystem services, including for adaptation and/or mitigation to climate change;
• the ongoing biodiversity crisis and its consequences, the benefits of ecosystem services and the need to protect and restore them are better understood. Policymakers and all relevant sectors of society are aware and well informed thereof, and fully grasp opportunities of biodiversity protection and restoration. Society is on a path of transformative change;
• farmers, foresters, and land managers test and implement biodiversity-friendly practices while safeguarding food security and the long-term sustainability of farming and forestry;
• progress towards reaching the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework contributes to reducing the pressure on biodiversity and to ensuring sustainable development worldwide.

R&I under Destination “Biodiversity and ecosystem services” will mostly deliver under Key Strategic Orientation (KSO) 1 of Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027: Green transition and to a lesser extent KSO 3: A more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe.

Spending under this destination counts 100% against the target for biodiversity expenditure under Horizon Europe. In addition, most of the activities, especially in the area of ecosystem restoration, contribute to the target for climate expenditure in line with the European Climate Law, which acknowledges that the restoration of ecosystems can maintain, manage and enhance natural sinks.

The Work Programme 2025 supports additional activities of the European Biodiversity Partnership Biodiversa+, while ensuring complementarity of actions with other instruments.

Synergies are sought with:

• EU missions, in particular “A Soil Deal for Europe” and “Restoring our ocean and waters by 2030” in topics dealing with nature restoration;
• Horizon Europe partnerships: in addition to Biodiversa +, several co-funded partnerships under Cluster 6 notably Water4All, sustainable blue economy and agroecology;
• JRC activities, notably the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) and its Science Service for Biodiversity (SSBD), the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy, the European Technical Support Centre for the Global Biodiversity Framework as requested by the Convention on Biological Diversity, European regional centre for biodiversity and the Global Knowledge Support Service for Biodiversity (GKSSB).

To maximise the impacts of R&I under this destination, international cooperation is encouraged in topics as appropriate. International cooperation is sought, in particular in topics that support IPBES, the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and related international agreements such as the Agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

Under this destination there is a substantial need for more fundamental research and therefore there is a majority of Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs).

This destination benefits from interdisciplinarity and trans-disciplinarity, including the contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH), and takes into due account gender and other social categories and their intersections to ensure promotion of democracy and a socially just transition where relevant. Citizens and stakeholders’ engagement will be sought including with living labs. The destination is expected to contribute to the new Commission priority “Protecting our democracy, upholding our values” by engaging with civil society. Furthermore, it strives to take full advantage of the potential of nature restoration and nature-based solutions, to deliver multiple social, economic and environmental co-benefits.

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