European plants and animals threatened by climate change

Prior to the start of the EU's Green Week on Biodiversity, the UK's Department for the Environment has published a critical report demonstrating that Europe needs a more integrated approach to conservation.

Brief News: Climate change is an increasing threat for wild plants and animals in Europe, according to a new report published by UK Environment Secretary David Miliband on 24 May.

The report raised questions over the EU's commitment to "halt the decline of biodiversity by 2010", one of the objectives of the EU's Sustainable Development Strategy adopted in 2001. It comes one week before the Commission's annual Green Week, which this year focuses on the biodiversity issue.

The UK study confirms another recent report by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). In its Red List 2006, the conservation organisation stated that "biodiversity loss is increasing, not slowing down".

On 22 May, the Commission presented a new Action Plan on biodiversity (the fifth since 2001) with the aim of accelerating implementation of the 2001 objective of halting biodiversity loss by 2010.