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DECLARATION OF THE NEW NORM

Written by the game changer generation. We are one family with nature.

Accepting the Declaration of the New Norm shows our common will to put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of all people and the planet. It is key to our healthy and sustainable future even more after the warning sign the pandemic gave us. From the air we breathe to the water we drink and the food we eat, nature provides the essentials we all rely on for our survival and well-being - ours and that of all life on Earth.

I declare to contribute and encourage efforts to:

  1. SUSTAIN HEALTHY LIVING CONDITIONS FOR ALL
  2. PROTECT FOREST and its WILDLIFE
  3. PROTECT WATER ECOSYSTEMS
  4. HALVE FOOTPRINT OF CONSUMPTION
  5. TRAVEL CONSCIOUSLY
  6. SUPPORT GREEN SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS
  7. ASK for a GREEN RECOVERY
  8. TAKE A STAND FOR NATURE
  9. GUARD DIVERSITY OF LIFE
  10. BE A GOOD EXAMPLE
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I will protect the right to clean air, water and land. Nature provides resources for food, development of medical treatments, healthy ecosystems help combat pollution and maintain the living environment for all organisms on Earth.

The relationship between people and our planet is dangerously unbalanced. We are seeing increasing evidence of this in our everyday lives, from extreme weather and forest fires to the emergence of new diseases. Much of the impact is, however, more subtle, but no less dangerous. One million species are threatened with extinction and natural habitats wildlife depends on is being degraded across the globe.

Protected areas form the centrepiece of conservation efforts around the world. They provide important space for ecological adaptation and evolutionary processes, thus playing a critical role in the face of climate change. Moreover, they generate direct human benefits in the form of ecosystem services.

In many cases, such protected areas represent the last hope for critically endangered or endemic species otherwise threatened by extinction. In terms of surface area coverage, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is home to some of the last intact natural areas of their size in Europe. Natural treasures such as the Southwestern Carpathians, the Danube Delta and Maramures truly justify the region’s labelling as the “Green Heart of Europe.” In CEE, species on the brink include large carnivores such as bears, lynx and wolves, as well as sturgeon.

It is crucial that these protected areas (a term that encompasses a wide array of different land and water designations) are managed and monitored according to strict and ambitious guidelines that foster the conservation of species and habitats - not only on paper, but in practice.

I will do my best to preserve and restore forests and its wildlife.

It is not without reason that the Danube-Carpathian Region has received the name Green Heart of Europe: around 60% of Europe’s pristine forests outside of northern Scandinavia and Russia can be found in the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains. These include old-growth forests such as the primeval beech forests that stretch across Eastern Slovakia and Western Ukraine, and which figure on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites. Furthermore, the carpet of trees covering the Southwestern Carpathians in Romania has been identified as one of the largest remaining forested areas in Europe of national, regional and global significance.These forests are home to two-thirds of Europe’s large carnivore populations, including brown bears, wolves and lynx.

Moreover, forests lock up vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, generate oxygen, and filter freshwater, thus providing a host of ecosystem services humans depend on and representing a crucial element in Earth’s resilience to climate change.

SUSTAIN HEALTHY LIVING CONDITIONS FOR ALL
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I will use consciously the vital water resources to leave for people and endangered species.

All life on Earth needs water. Water is the world’s most precious resource. Freshwater habitats such as lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and aquifers house an incredible proportion of the world’s biodiversity. More than 10% of all known animals and about 50% of all known fish species are found in freshwater habitats. However, these precious ecosystems are increasingly threatened by habitat shrinkage and deterioration, climate change and overexploitation driven by human activities and consumption patterns. Freshwater habitats are in much worse condition than forest, grassland or coastal system habitats. In fact, the Living Planet Index shows an average decline of 84% in monitored freshwater populations from 1970 to 2016. A much faster decline than terrestrial or marine species. The Danube River Basin is a prime example of a vital freshwater system at risk.

The Danube River runs through ten different countries and the Danube River Basin is being shared by 19 countries, making it the most international river basin in the world. It provides drinking water for 20 million people and is home to unique species like the white pelican and sturgeon, many of which are critically endangered. Moreover, Central Eastern Europe (CEE) includes some of the most important wetlands around the globe. For example, the Danube Delta is home to over 320 bird species during the summer. The Danube River is also central to the future 5-country Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, often referred to as the “Amazon of Europe.”

I will consume goods and services consciously, knowing that natural resources used for their production are limited and precious. I will leave no waste behind.

Right when we should be protecting forests and freshwater systems, we are exploiting them. This has to stop. We need to take action to ensure all our forests, rivers and lakes are sustainably managed. Our oceans also need help. They are severely overfished and have become a dumping ground for plastic. The world needs to take action and ensure our oceans are sustainably managed. Moreover, the way we currently produce and consume food is bad for the planet. It drives biodiversity loss while also contributing to climate change. We need to start producing food more sustainably and shifting to better diets. Currently 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the oceans every year. We need to keep plastic out of nature!

 HALVE FOOTPRINT OF CONSUMPTION

I will always choose more sustainable ways of transportation and use my ability to reach the furthest parts of Earth with respect to the environment.

Around one-quarter of global CO2 emissions come from the transportation of people and goods. Creating sustainable transportation solutions is one of the greatest challenges facing Central and Eastern Europe today but also a great opportunity for low-carbon development with respect for nature. Better public transport, bicycle and pedestrian lanes in cities, electric vehicles, car sharing, green bridges across motorways and improved rail infrastructure are among the solutions.

I will encourage my social & business environment to search for innovative green ways to halve the footprint of production. I will support transition to sustainable practices e.g. food systems and agriculture, fishing, forestry, infrastructure, extractives.

In countries of the Green Heart of Europe where public resources are scarce, it's critical to develop innovative, cost-efficient solutions to tackling the climate crisis and stopping the deterioration of the region´s high natural capital. Technology can help us to trace truckloads of illegal wood, discover poachers of critically endangered sturgeon or build fishpasses across river dams. Restoring the retention capacity of river floodplains can function as a nature-based solution to managing the risks of floods and droughts. Social innovation can promote jobs in green economic sectors.

SUPPORT GREEN SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS
SUPPORT GREEN SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS
SUPPORT GREEN SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS
SUPPORT GREEN SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS

Ask my government to promote recovery plans that respect 100% the “do no harm” principle and guarantee 50% minimum spending for climate and nature

The Covid-19 pandemic and its immediate health, social and economic impacts require an urgent response. Beyond this, however, public stimulus packages to relaunch the economy are already being developed, requiring crucial decisions on where these substantial financial flows should be directed or through which channels and vehicles, in order to bring most benefits.

Badly designed recovery plans in response to the Covid-19 outbreak risk exacerbating the social inequalities and environmental crisis. Instead, governments must draw up their plans in a way that helps tackle social inequalities, climate and environmental breakdown, and the need to improve long-term resilience, by taking a consistent approach across the board, and aiming clearly at a green, equitable and resilient recovery. WWF is advocating for strong EU environmental policies on sustainable development, nature conservation, climate and energy, sustainable finance and external action.

The European Union and its governments must demonstrate leadership and foresight by continuing to follow, and reinforcing, a trajectory towards a resilient, sustainable and just economy and society, in line with the European Green Deal, the Paris climate agreement, biodiversity goals and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I will attract allies, take actions and raise my voice when encountering nature’s pains and needs.

A New Deal for Nature and People is needed. A deal that makes it socially, politically and economically unacceptable to sit back and watch the destruction of nature. A deal focused on tackling the underlying root causes of nature’s decline. A deal that not only stops the catastrophic loss of nature, but leads to a collective global programme of recovery. We need a New Deal for Nature and People to unite world leaders behind the biggest issue of our generation and catalyze a new movement that can and will save our planet.

Through 2020 and 2021, world leaders will take key decisions on the environment, climate change and sustainable development that will set the global agenda for the next decade.In the months ahead, we have an unmissable opportunity to chart a new course: leaders and citizens can deliver the change required to safeguard the future for people and all life on earth, through a NEW DEAL FOR NATURE AND PEOPLE.

TAKE A STAND FOR NATURE

I will strive to halt human-induced extinction, recover species populations, and stop unsustainable wildlife exploitation and trade

In the face of the unprecedented crisis of nature loss, as the dominant species on the planet we have the moral responsibility to preserve the diversity of life on earth.

The preservation of functioning ecosystems and the maintenance of their natural processes are crucial for the survival of species and biomes that cannot persevere in areas heavily impacted by human activity.

The Lower Danube is the only river in the EU that still contains naturally reproducing populations of sturgeon, but their status is critical. Human impact has made sturgeons the most endangered group of species on the planet. Historically, overexploitation and blockage of migration routes led to the collapse of sturgeon populations. Today, the main threat facing dwindling sturgeon populations is illegal fishing, primarily for their caviar, but also for their meat, which is being traded illegally. Further degradation of remaining habitats and infrastructure blocking access to their spawning sites also pose major problems. Dams represent insurmountable barriers along migration routes, and diking and draining of 80% of the Danube’s former floodplains has caused important feeding and spawning areas to vanish.

Saving sturgeon and other species from extinction is a complex undertaking and can only be achieved through cross-sectoral and cross-border cooperation, with a strong political will.

SUSTAIN HEALTHY LIVING CONDITIONS FOR ALL
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I will strive to leave the natural environment in better shape than I found it, and inspire others to do it.

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration (IPBES) found that only a quarter of the Earth’s land cover was substantially free of human impact. By 2050, this will shrink to one tenth. In the EU, only 16% of assessed habitats have achieved a favourable conservation status. The situation in Central and Eastern European (CEE) is similarly grim: 35.1% of habitats in Romania, 88% in Bulgaria, 55.5% in Slovakia and 80.4% in Hungary were found to have an unfavourable conservation status.

In all assessed ecosystems, restoration efforts have been proven to gradually reverse the damage inflicted upon them. In the case of the Danube River Basin for instance, 193,475 ha of wetland areas have been identified with restoration potential. Of these, 65,000 ha will be partly or totally reconnected by 2021. While the upfront costs of such projects are often substantial, these are greatly outweighed by the long-term benefits to society. Indeed, the financial rewards of restoration efforts on 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land could globally reach an estimated EUR 76 billion per year. Consequently, restoration is an important nature- based solution that must be deployed to tackle many of the challenges humanity and the planet are facing.