Building back biodiversity: How EU Member States fail to spend the recovery fund for nature

study    |    20 May 2021

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This report brings together assessments of the national recovery and resilience plans of ten central and eastern European (CEE) countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). It outlines the poor status of biodiversity in all countries and how the recovery fund can and should be used to address this, in line with commitments made in the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Our findings show that these countries have not used the recovery fund as an opportunity to improve biodiversity. The report also demonstrates how the recovery funds can easily address this while delivering a series of social and economic benefits at the same time. It concludes that just one year on from its release, the key objectives of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 are in jeopardy, and without significant changes in EU spending, the next decade will not turn the tide on the devastating loss of biodiversity we are currently experiencing.