Bijdrage mili­eu­com­missie over de uitwis­seling van stand­punten met het Inter­gou­ver­ne­menteel Platform voor Biodi­ver­siteit en Ecosys­teem­diensten (IPBES) en de Europese Onder­zoeksraad (ERC) over hun recente beoor­de­lings­rap­porten

Anja Hazekamp (PvdD):

Welcome and thank you for the presentation of these crucial reports. In the reports, you point out that delaying the action needed to meet the policy goals will also drastically increase the costs of delivering it. For instance, no action on biodiversity goals could double the necessary costs and delaying action on climate change adds at least €500 billion per year in additional costs for meeting the policy targets. These are shocking facts.

Unfortunately, you are presenting these reports in a time when, also in this parliament, we seem to be more focused on short-term goals, on blindly pursuing economic growth. A parliament that is increasingly suspicious of science, although they often ask for more research if it helps them to dispute, dilute and delay the necessary environmental legislation, such as the Green Deal, including the 'Farm-to-Fork' strategy. Climate and biodiversity policies are under great pressure because of this and are being further weakened and delayed. What is your response to this trend? And what would your most pressing advice be?

I have another question, which is kind of related. We also see that the influence on policymakers by the strong lobby of the industry, including 'Big Agro', is great. They are fighting for 'business as usual' regarding the use of pesticides, regarding animal agriculture. And, of course, this is not contributing to the transformative change that we need. What would be the most pressing goals that we should have here in the European Union for the coming five years?