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Global biodiversity loss – How the EU can promote environmentally friendly consumption

14 tonnes of material consumption per person – according to Eurostat, this is how large the footprint of consumer behaviour in Europe is in 2024. The goal would be 5.5 to 8 tonnes says United Nations Environment Programme. This consumption contributes to global biodiversity loss, especially in the Global South. A new study by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg (ifeu) highlights the role of soy, palm oil and shrimp production. The researchers make recommendations for EU policy in line with biodiversity conservation goals. This week, the results of the study “Towards nature-friendly consumption”, commissioned by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), were discussed at an online conference with international experts.

Targeted EU policy can reduce global footprint

“The loss of biodiversity is not an inevitable consequence of consumption, but the result of political and economic decisions,” says project manager Julia Fülling, who conducts research on sustainable lifestyles at the IÖW. “The EU can significantly reduce its global resource footprint with coordinated, equitable measures that make sufficient lifestyles attractive and feasible.”

Shrimps, soy and palm oil as drivers of environmental destruction

The three case studies in the report illustrate that:

  • Shrimp consumption has risen sharply in the EU, and farming has led and continues to lead to massive destruction of mangrove forests. In 2018, European shrimp consumption required around 463,000 hectares – an area almost twice the size of Luxembourg. Intensive aquaculture methods cause considerable environmental damage. Their wastewater releases nutrients, chemicals, and antibiotics into the environment, damaging ecosystems. Yet there are alternatives: more sustainable farming methods could at least reduce the ecological footprint.
  • Most of the soy consumed in the EU is used as animal feed. Soy cultivation is often associated with deforestation in the Amazon, but deforestation there has declined in recent years. Soy is now increasingly coming from monocultures in sensitive habitats such as the Cerrado and the Pampas in South America. In 2023, soy cultivation for EU imports covered around 4.8 million hectares (roughly equivalent to the area of Slovakia) and threatened biodiversity through the use of herbicides and the destruction of natural ecosystems through land conversion.
  • In the past, palm oil production led to the large-scale conversion of tropical rainforests. Today, it is primarily the drainage of tropical peatlands that is endangering numerous species and leading to significant CO₂ emissions. In addition to drainage, emissions are also increased by bog fires. In 2023, 1.5 million hectares of land were needed to import palm oil into the EU, which is equivalent to about one third of the area of Estonia. 

“The consumption of shrimp, soy and palm oil in the EU has devastating effects on biodiversity worldwide – for example, through the destruction of biodiversity hotspots such as mangrove forests, moors and savannahs,” explains Susanne Köppen, research associate at ifeu, emphasising: “This development must be stopped.”

Holistic approach to biodiversity and climate protection: sufficiency instead of technical solutions

The loss of biological diversity and climate change are inextricably linked and require a holistic approach, the researchers recommend in their study. Protecting individual ecosystems or raw materials can lead to environmental pollution simply being shifted elsewhere instead of solving the underlying problems. Furthermore, inadequate sustainability policies can exacerbate global inequalities, and therefore contribute to “green colonialism”. To avoid this, biodiversity conservation should be designed in collaboration with stakeholders in the affected regions. Furthermore, technical solutions such as efficiency improvements or substitution are not sufficient to achieve genuine transformation – the guiding principle should be sufficiency.

Policy measures for a more sustainable EU policy

In order to bring about real change, the EU should implement the Deforestation Regulation in an effective and socially acceptable manner and adopt the EU Green Claims Directive in a timely manner. In addition, harmful subsidies should be abolished and replaced with price incentives for a more plant-based diet. The significant leverage offered by public procurement should be utilised by making sustainability criteria mandatory. Effective sustainability communication to consumers must also go beyond generic messages and focus on the actual needs of consumers.

Background

The study was published as part of the project “Shaping Nature-Friendly Consumption”, which was carried out by the IÖW and ifeu on behalf of the BfN with funding from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN). In addition to a brochure, the project publications include several fact sheets and policy briefs. They were published in collaboration with the Working Group on Consumption and Biodiversity of the One Planet network. 

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Further information:

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Julia Fülling

Contact

Dr. Julia Fülling

Phone: +49–30–884-594-84

Fax: +49–30–882 54 39

julia.fuelling@ioew.de

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