Prioritising Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to support European Union (EU) policy needs based on the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030

The EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (EU BDS 2030) sets out the EU’s approach to protecting nature and reversing the degradation of ecosystems and serves as the EU’s key instrument for implementing the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It also provides a framework for the coordination and alignment of other biodiversity-related policies and legislation, such as the Habitats and Birds Directives, to meet national, European and global biodiversity goals. The EU BDS 2030 includes 16 targets and six sub-targets to be met by 2030, to achieve the overall objective of putting Europe’s biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of people, climate and the planet (European Commission, 2020). To meet these targets, the EU and its Member States have committed to implementing a set of 102 actions and sub-actions by 2030 (European Commission, n.d.). Each of these measures represents an entry point where Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) could be used to support the implementation of the EU BDS 2030. The European Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) has also developed tools to monitor progress towards implementing the EU BDS 2030, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 Dashboard , which includes a set of indicators to track progress towards the targets. Initially, this Dashboard included 16 indicators covering 8 of the 16 targets.