[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1247 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1247

Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a National 
   Biodiversity Strategy for protecting biodiversity for current and 
                          future generations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 2, 2020

Mr. Neguse (for himself, Mr. Lowenthal, and Mr. Huffman) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the need for the Federal Government to establish a National 
   Biodiversity Strategy for protecting biodiversity for current and 
                          future generations.

Whereas the planet is facing an unprecedented biodiversity crisis, largely 
        driven by human activity;
Whereas recent scientific studies have confirmed human-driven activities are 
        significantly damaging the Earth's ecosystems by--

    (1) altering 75 percent of the area of terrestrial environments and 66 
percent of marine environments;

    (2) directly exploiting wildlife and plant species;

    (3) accelerating climate change, directly harming nature and 
exacerbating other threats;

    (4) polluting air, land, and water; and

    (5) introducing invasive species;

Whereas these studies have shown that human-driven threats have harmed 
        biodiversity by--

    (1) threatening approximately one million species with extinction now 
and in the coming decades, including--

    G    (A) over 40 percent of amphibians;

    G    (B) 33 percent of corals, sharks, shark relatives, and marine 
mammals;

    G    (C) over 60 percent of cycads and over 30 percent of conifer 
trees; and

    G    (D) about 10 percent of over 5 million insect species; and

    (2) causing population sizes of wild species to decline by--

    G    (A) an average of 68 percent for mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, 
and reptiles;

    G    (B) nearly 3 billion birds in North America since 1970;

    G    (C) about 50 percent for live corals; and

    G    (D) an average of over 20 percent overall;

Whereas human activity is accelerating the decline of important economic and 
        cultural services, with--

    (1) the productivity of nearly one-fourth of the land surface reduced;

    (2) over one-third of land surface and 75 percent of freshwater 
resources devoted to crop or livestock production;

    (3) about half a trillion dollars of global crops at risk from 
pollinator loss;

    (4) one-third of marine fisheries overfished, 60 percent fished at 
capacity, and just 7 percent fished below capacity; and

    (5) 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by land clearing, 
crops, and fertilization;

Whereas the decline of biodiversity disproportionately impacts indigenous and 
        other communities that rely on nature for essential services, including 
        Native Americans and Alaska Natives who offer unique perspectives and 
        traditional ecological knowledge critical to preserving biodiversity;
Whereas the decline of biodiversity and ecosystem services observed worldwide is 
        occurring in the United States;
Whereas the United States possesses an abundance and great diversity of species 
        of fish, wildlife, and plants that are of significant value to the 
        United States for aesthetic, ecological, educational, cultural, 
        recreational, economic, and scientific reasons;
Whereas the decline of biodiversity presents a direct threat to the security, 
        health, and well-being of the people of the United States by causing 
        economic harm through the loss of valuable ecosystem services such as 
        zoonotic disease buffering, pollination, water filtration, soil 
        replenishment, the provision of game species, medicinal products, 
        recreational opportunities, and others;
Whereas communities of color, low-income communities, Tribal communities, and 
        other populations that have been systematically and deliberately 
        targeted for siting environmentally degrading activities, and excluded 
        from conservation efforts, face disproportionate impacts from 
        biodiversity loss;
Whereas Federal agencies are tasked with protecting and conserving biodiversity 
        in the United States and worldwide through a variety of legal and policy 
        channels;
Whereas there is no coordinating policy to maximize the effectiveness of the 
        Federal Government's conservation efforts and collaboration with the 
        States, local governments, Tribes, private landowners, and other 
        nongovernmental stakeholders;
Whereas the United States should play a leading role on the international stage 
        in addressing the biodiversity crisis; yet the United States--

    (1) is not a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity;

    (2) does not issue a national biodiversity outlook, contrary to most 
other nations; and

    (3) does not have a National Biodiversity Strategy as part of the 
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem 
Services; and

Whereas scientific research highlights essential pathways forward, including--

    (1) establishing protected areas networks encompassing at least 30 
percent of the environment by 2030 for biodiversity and climate;

    (2) restoring degraded habitats and ensuring connectivity of protected 
areas;

    (3) reducing pesticide use to levels no higher than needed for 
maintaining food production; and

    (4) addressing the threats posed by invasive species: Now, therefore, 
be it

    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) it is in the national interest for the Federal 
        Government to establish a National Biodiversity Strategy to--
                    (A) ensure the conservation of the Nation's 
                biodiversity;
                    (B) secure and restore the ecosystem services 
                provided by nature for current and future generations;
                    (C) set ambitious yet necessary goals for 
                protecting biodiversity in the coming decades;
                    (D) promote social equity and justice in the 
                conservation of the Nation's biodiversity;
                    (E) coordinate the actions of Federal agencies to 
                advance the conservation of biodiversity;
                    (F) promote collaboration among the Federal, State, 
                and Tribal governments and non-governmental 
                stakeholders to advance conservation;
                    (G) honor the Federal trust obligations to Tribal 
                nations and Native Americans; and
                    (H) provide global leadership in addressing the 
                biodiversity crisis; and
            (2) the National Biodiversity Strategy should include 
        direction on--
                    (A) setting a national goal of protecting at least 
                30 percent of United States lands and waters to 
                conserve biodiversity and address climate change by 
                2030 and other goals necessary to reduce the threats to 
                biodiversity as indicated by the best available 
                scientific information;
                    (B) affirming the need to protect threatened, 
                endangered, and at-risk species from further 
                imperilment or extinction;
                    (C) climate adaptation and mitigation strategies 
                for biodiversity conservation, including--
                            (i) joining and leading international 
                        agreements to combat climate change, such as 
                        the Paris Agreement;
                            (ii) establishing climate refugia and 
                        climate corridors for conservation of species 
                        affected by climate change; and
                            (iii) the rapid build-out of renewable 
                        energy;
                    (D) reviewing existing laws, plans, programs, and 
                strategies that are relevant to addressing threats to 
                biodiversity to assess how they can contribute to the 
                objectives of this resolution and, as found necessary, 
                to recommend new laws, plans, programs, and strategies;
                    (E) ensuring integration of biodiversity protection 
                across the activities of the Federal Government;
                    (F) advancing conservation in collaboration with 
                the State and Tribal governments and on private lands 
                through funding, technical support, and partnerships;
                    (G) incorporating indigenous knowledge and 
                practices to support conservation and biodiversity, and 
                ensuring fulfillment of the Federal trust obligations 
                that apply to government decisionmaking that impacts 
                the interests of Native Americans;
                    (H) means to ensure equitable access to nature, 
                inclusive decisionmaking on biodiversity protection, 
                and just allocations of resources to achieve the goals 
                of this resolution, including for systematically and 
                deliberately targeted populations such as communities 
                of color, low-income communities, and Native American 
                communities;
                    (I) establishing regular monitoring and reporting 
                on the status of the Nation's biodiversity, including a 
                quadrennial assessment reported to Congress and the 
                American people;
                    (J) prioritizing programs to identify knowledge 
                gaps and accelerate research and development of new 
                conservation solutions across sectors; and
                    (K) funding existing conservation programs, 
                developing new funding sources, and reducing subsidies 
                that harm biodiversity, in amounts commensurate with 
                the scale of the challenge.
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