The European Union (EU) will invest several million euros on research in the next four years, especially on biodiversity, animal health and emerging diseases, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced.

In a statement on Monday, she underlined the correlation between biodiversity loss and the growing numbers of wars, natural disasters and epidemics while taking part in the One Planet summit virtually hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Mirroring the “One Planet” credo of the summit, the EU wishes to invest in “One Health” to prevent future outbreaks and natural disasters. The EU plans, under the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies, to protect 30 per cent of land and sea area in the bloc and around the world, to restore damaged rivers and plant 3 billion trees in the next decade, according to von der Leyen.

These strategies were designed to stop the loss of biodiversity in the EU, and support European agriculture’s transition towards more sustainable and environment-respectful development. She also announced a new legislation aiming at preventing deforestation outside the bloc, by banning the imports of goods the production of which may destroy forests.