Commissioner Jessika Roswall addressed the high-level side event ‘Road to Biodiversity COP17’ on September 26, 2025, emphasizing the urgency of implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at COP15 in 2022. Roswall highlighted the continuing ecological challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution amid geopolitical tensions, underscoring the non-negotiable nature of global action.
Concrete Proposals for Biodiversity Finance and Bioeconomy
Roswall proposed two tangible policy initiatives. First, she introduced the EU’s Roadmap for Nature Credits, aimed at generating significant biodiversity financing by assigning economic value to nature. This approach challenges the current practice of treating natural resources as free goods, seeking instead to shift market incentives toward nature’s protection. Second, she announced plans for a forthcoming EU bioeconomy strategy focused on research, innovation, sustainability, and circularity to leverage biomass efficiently while alleviating environmental pressure.
Monitoring and Cooperation under the Global Framework
The speech pointed to the Framework’s balanced provisions for monitoring and review, designed to facilitate shared accountability without triggering blame. This approach favors cooperative transparency and mutual learning among countries. Roswall acknowledged funding constraints and competing priorities such as security but framed biodiversity investment as essential for future economic and ecological resilience.
Stakeholder Impact and Challenges
EU companies engaged in biodiversity-related sectors may face new compliance considerations linked to the voluntary Cali Fund, established at COP16 for benefit-sharing of Digital Sequence Information. While companies support the Fund’s principles, concerns remain about fee rates and legal clarity, which Roswall pledged to address collaboratively. National authorities and EU regulators will need to integrate these novel financing mechanisms with existing frameworks. Meanwhile, environmental NGOs and civil society could welcome the enhanced financing and ambition as critical steps, but may scrutinize actual funding flows and regulatory effectiveness.
Overall, Roswall’s address outlined a direction favoring increased EU engagement and financial innovation in biodiversity, signaling a tilt toward multilateral, market-based solutions combined with the EU’s internal policy alignment on bioeconomy.