Biodiversity loss threatens ecosystems, economies and societies, thereby putting over half of global GDP at risk. A new Sweco Urban Insight report highlights five key trends shaping Europe’s response, from financial integration to AI-driven conservation, providing recommendations to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

With more than one million species currently on the brink of extinction, the ongoing decline in diversity of nature threatens ecosystems, societies and businesses, and places over half of the global GDP at risk.

“The urgency of halting biodiversity loss is reshaping business models, investment flows and conservation efforts across Europe. Sweco’s report outlines the progress of Europe’s biodiversity agenda and recommends further action from governments, the public sector, businesses, financial institutions and citizens,” says Piia Pessala, Executive Director in biodiversity at Sweco and one of the authors of the report.

The new report is found here and highlights five key trends demonstrating how Europe is tackling biodiversity recovery:

1. Biodiversity in financial decision-making – Integrating biodiversity into investment strategies. As an example, Sweco in the UK supports the European Investment Bank to ensure that investment opportunities in large-scale energy projects meet their biodiversity standards.
2. Biodiversity offset markets – Creating markets for biodiversity credits to incentivise conservation. For instance, Sweco’s Naturepoints calculator is used to quantify biodiversity gain or loss, and to translate this into biodiversity credits in the Netherlands.
3. Investment in conservation – Boosting public and private funding for biodiversity projects. For example, Sweco provided ecological expertise in the restoration of a river and lake in a National Park in Finland as well as planning wetland habitat restoration in Germany.
4. Bringing biodiversity into cities – Enhancing biodiversity through urban rewilding initiatives. Such instances include Sweco’s transformation of a former industrial site in Norway into a blue-green neighbourhood and contribution to Antwerp’s circular water network project.
5. Digital tools & AI – Leveraging technology to accelerate biodiversity monitoring and decision-making. For example, Sweco mapped Swedish island Gotland’s potential alkaline fens using AI modelling and remote sensing to identify areas of high biodiversity value.

The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, with ambitious targets such as conserving 30 per cent of land and water and restoring 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems. At recent COP 16 talks in Rome, countries finally agreed to mobilise at least USD 200 billion per year by 2030 to help countries conserve biodiversity – marking a significant step forward.

“It is great to see international agreements for joint investments in biodiversity. However, achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework’s 30 per cent target by 2030 will require stronger conservation strategies and increased collaboration, since currently 20 per cent of Europe’s terrestrial land is protected, and marine and coastal areas are at 13 per cent. In the report, Sweco’s experts have identified possible actions that can be taken by various stakeholders in society as well as best practises examples from different European countries,” says Piia Pessala.