ETC BE Report 2024/2: Exploring the societal factors enabling to halt and reverse the loss and change of biodiversity
04 Nov 2024
Alessandro Galli, Nike Sommerwerk, Maria Serena Mancini, Sampo Pihlainen, David Lin
The accelerating biodiversity crisis, driven by unsustainable human activities, poses a significant threat to ecosystems in Europe and globally. Despite international efforts, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, progress in halting and reversing biodiversity loss remains limited, as current policies primarily address the symptoms rather than the root societal drivers of this crisis.
This report explores the societal factors that either hinder or enable efforts to reverse biodiversity loss and change. It identifies eight key societal barriers spanning socio-economic, political, and cultural domains, such as knowledge gaps, misinformation, a utilitarian mindset, short-termism, governance challenges, social norms, perception of others, and the filtering of information. To tackle these barriers, the report outlines five transformative levers – offering alternative narratives, levelling-out power imbalances, enhancing knowledge, understanding societal acceptance, and strengthening governance structures – within which seven actionable success factors are proposed. These include a shared, vision-driven approach, keeping momentum, an informed citizenry, a clear modus operandi, broad and decentralized alliances, evidence-based decision making, and adequate biodiversity funding. Furthermore, the report acknowledges the critical role of structural interventions and introduces some measures such as regulatory reforms and targeted funding to support transformative change.
Ultimately, the report offers a foundation for reflection, discussion and future research, offering valuable insights for policymakers, EU institutions, and stakeholders. The report emphasizes the need to address deeper societal drivers to achieve the EU’s 2030 biodiversity goals and ensure Europe's ecosystems are on the path to recovery and sustainability.
Prepared by:
Lead authors: Alessandro Galli (GFN), Nike Sommerwerk (FT), Maria Serena Mancini (GFN), Sampo Pihlainen (SYKE)
Contributors: David Lin (GFN)
EEA project manager: Janica Borg, Frank Wugt Larsen
Coordination: Claudia Neitzel (NIVA)
Language Check: Shane Hume (LESP)
Layout: Oda Ellingsen (NIVA)
