[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 195 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 195
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
March 3, 2023
Mr. Neguse (for himself, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Brownley, Mr.
Khanna, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Ms. Bush, Mr. Cleaver, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Beyer, Ms.
Tokuda, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Castor of Florida,
Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Pingree, and Ms. Lee of
California) 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 intrinsic, 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, the
Convention on Migratory Species, and other relevant international
agreements;
(2) does not issue a periodic national biodiversity outlook, contrary
to most other countries; 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 the effective conservation, restoration, and durable
protection of at least 30 percent of an ecologically representative area of
the Nation's and the world's lands, freshwaters, and oceans by 2030 by
working collaboratively with governments, land owners, fishers, indigenous
peoples, communities, and others;
(2) restoring or rewilding species, degraded habitats, and ensuring
integrity and connectivity of protected areas;
(3) retaining and protecting highly intact ecosystems;
(4) reducing pesticide use to levels no higher than needed for
sustainable, ecologically, and safe food production; and
(5) 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 and restoration of the
Nation's biodiversity;
(B) secure and restore the ecosystem services
provided by nature for current and future generations;
(C) deliver on the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals;
(D) set ambitious yet necessary goals for
protecting biodiversity in the coming decades;
(E) promote social equity and justice in the
conservation of the Nation's biodiversity;
(F) coordinate the actions of Federal agencies to
advance the conservation of biodiversity;
(G) promote collaboration among the Federal, State,
and Tribal governments, nongovernmental stakeholders,
civil society, and international cooperation to advance
conservation;
(H) honor the Federal trust obligations to Tribal
nations and Native Americans; and
(I) provide global leadership in addressing the
biodiversity crisis; and
(2) the national biodiversity strategy should include
direction on--
(A) achieving the national goal of conserving at
least 30 percent of United States lands and waters to
protect biodiversity and address climate change by
2030, supporting international efforts to achieve the
same goal on a global scale, and setting other goals
necessary to reduce the threats to biodiversity as
indicated by the best available scientific information;
(B) taking action to protect threatened,
endangered, and at-risk species from further
imperilment or extinction;
(C) climate adaptation and mitigation strategies
for biodiversity conservation, including--
(i) leading international agreements to
combat climate change, including 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,
including foreign policy and foreign assistance;
(F) advancing conservation in collaboration with
the State and Tribal governments and on private lands
through incentives, funding, technical support, and
partnerships;
(G) incorporating indigenous knowledge and
practices to support conservation and biodiversity,
safeguarding the rights and needs of indigenous
peoples, 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 biodiversity, in the Nation and
globally, 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;
(K) assessing and integrating the United States
role in international biodiversity, ecosystem services,
and nature conservation in national security and
foreign policy strategies, including in international
development policies, planning and finance, diplomatic
dialogues, and trade agreements, and advancing global
adoption of and progress towards the ``30x30'' goal;
and
(L) 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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