Environmental policies for a more resilient Europe

Dr. Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director, European Environment Agency

EEAC 24th annual conference

Barcelona, 21st October 2016

EEA: a network organisation with a direct link to policyThe European EnvironmentAgency is an EU body thatoperates at the interface ofscience and policy.

With a network of more than 300institutions in 39 Europeancountries, the EEA providestimely, reliable and relevantinformation to supportsustainable development.

The EEA’s work is targeted at EUinstitutions, EEA membercountries, civil society and thegeneral public.

‘Business as usual’ is no longer a viable development path

‘living well’

Within environmental limits

(Global Footprint Network, 2012; UNDP, 2014)

Social Environment

EconomySustainabledevelopment?Of course not!

Sustainability revisited

Living within ecological limits

Ecosystemservices

ECOSYSTEMS

Policy

Values

Technology Science

Market

Industry

SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMSproviding social needs and value

Environmental externalities

Deposits Emissions Pollution

system

system system

Foodsystem

Energysystem

Mobilitysystem

Urbansystem

Vision of the 7th Environment Action Programme

‘In 2050, we live well, within the planet's ecological

limits. Our prosperity and healthy environment stem from

an innovative, circular economy where nothing is wasted

and where natural resources are managed sustainably, and

biodiversity is protected, valued and restored in ways that

enhance our society's resilience. Our low-carbon

growth has long been decoupled from resource use, setting

the pace for a global safe and sustainable society.’

The developing policy framework

Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital

Source: SOER 2015, EEA

Efficiency improvements have not secured long-term resilience

Protecting, conservingand enhancing natural

capital

Resource efficiencyand the low-carbon

economy

Safeguarding fromenvironmental risks

to health

Past (5–10)year trends

Improving trends dominate

Trends show mixed picture

Deteriorating trends dominate

20+ years outlook

/

Source: SOER 2015, EEA

Growing pressures on ecosystems

The demands of a growing global population with

changing consumption patterns for food, mobility and

energy are exerting increasing pressure on the Earth's

ecosystems.

This raises concerns about meat-heavy diets, water use

and bioenergy production.

Rates of global habitat destruction and biodiversity loss are

predicted to increase.

Continued degradation of global ecosystems and their

services will influence poverty and inequality, potentially

driving increased migration.

SOER 2020: Frame for integrated, systemic analysis

Low carbon economyDecarbonisation

Resource efficiency

Circular economy

MaterialWater Carbon Land

Food Mobility Energy Urban

Resilience

Well

being

Natural Capital – implementation in the EU system

Consuming within limits & nature-based economy

Greening sectoral policies & EU programmes

Resource efficiency

Reducing pollution

Naturelegislation

Protecting natural capitalManaging natural capital

Implementing the acquis

Reforming sectoral policies

Transitioning to a green economy

EEA definition of resilience

• Resilience describes the stability of a systemand also its ‘elasticity’.

• Ecosystem resilience builds on threecharacteristics:• an ecosystem's capacity to resist change;• the amount of change an ecosystem can

undergo and still retain the same controls onstructure and function;

• an ecosystem's ability to reorganisefollowing disturbance.

Pressure on ecosystems and habitats

Over two thirds

of ecosystems

have

“unfavourable”

status according

to the 2015 EEA

State of Nature

report.

Related content

COUNTRY COMPARISONS

GLOBALMEGATRENDS

EUROPEANBRIEFINGS

COUNTRIES & REGIONS

SYNTHESISREPORT

SOER2015 / European briefings /Forests

SOER 2015 - Forests

• Forests provide a range of ecosystem services from capturing and storing carbon to providing bio-fuel, timber as well as social benefits.

• Our forests face growing pressure from fragmentation, expanding urban areas, climate change and loss of biodiversity.

• Claims on forests services are increasing.

• Understanding the role of more than 14 million forest owners/managers is imperative to developing balanced, sustainable policy on forest resources.

© J

uan C

arlos F

arias

Pard

o, Environm

ent

& M

e

/EEA

EEA report on European forest ecosytems

• Healthy forests cope better withstress, recover more easily fromdamages and adapt better todisturbances and changes thanunhealthy forests.

• Strategies to build forest resilienceinvolve:• the management of forests;• the restoration of degraded

forests;• the conservation, enhancement

and use of biodiversity.

Related content

COUNTRY COMPARISONS

GLOBALMEGATRENDS

EUROPEANBRIEFINGS

COUNTRIES & REGIONS

SYNTHESISREPORT

SOER2015 / European briefings /Marine environment

SOER 2015 - Marine environment

• Seas and oceans act as a coherent ecosystem.

• Across all of Europe’s regional seas, marine biodiversity is in poor condition: only 7 % of marine species assessments indicate ‘favourable conservation status’.

• Effects of climate change (e.g. acidification) add to the cumulative impacts.

• Effective policy implementation can reduce impacts.

• For example, for several stocks the number of fish caught at ‘maximum sustainable yield’ levels continues to increase, suggesting healthier stocks.

© S

pyridoula

Kre

ssou, Environm

ent

& M

e /

EEA

Marine litter: visible aspect of unsustainable production & consumption systems

• Main strategies toaddress marine litter:

• Remedial (targetingend of life cycle e.g.recycling and clean-ups).

• Systemic (based onprevention, targetingdesign/productionphases).

EEA report on the state of Europe’s seas

• “Very unlikely” that the marine ecosystemsof Europe's seas can currently beconsidered to be in a healthy state.

• Patterns of degradation are observedacross all the ecosystem componentsconsidered.

• The marine ecosystems of Europe haveconsiderable resilience - healthy marineecosystems can be achieved with the rightinterventions.

Societal resilience – adapting to situations that make us vulnerable

Heat Water scarcity and droughts

Flooding Bush fires

Images: Sekkha; Dr. Bernd Gross; D. Talukdar; Janurah

Systemic challenges require systemic responses

• Systemic perspective

• Long-term perspective

• Integrative and participatory

• Profound structural changes

Image: City of Copenhagen

• Avoids lock-ins

• Deals with uncertainty

• Change becomes an opportunity

Governance and participation: the province of Barcelona example

Source: http://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/tools/urban-adaptation

Mayors Adapt cities

Planning: the Copenhagen example

Image: Birgit Georgi

Stormwaterstorage space at Tåsingeplads in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Living within the limits of our planet: what does this mean for Europe?

• What do we know about planetary boundaries?

• How to relate them to a European context?

• How does Europe perform?

• What is the meaning for EU policy making?

Source: F. Pharand-Deschênes /Globaïa

New forms of EU institutional collaboration

• A need to address key environmental knowledge gaps and to

improve policy integration of scientific output.

• Environment Knowledge Community (EKC) formed in early

2015, with the aim to enhance knowledge development and

cooperation.

• Knowledge Innovation Projects (KIPs).

• KIP "within the limits of our planet" (WiLoP) (2015 – 2019).

(EEA project lead).

• Scientific support from key experts.

Knowledge Innovation Project ‘WiLoP’: 2016 activities

Stock-taking of scientific knowledge base and first assessments

• What is the safe operating space for the EU?

• Does the EU live within its safe operating space?

• How can the planetary boundaries concept inform EU policy?

Science-policy workshop

• Discussion of the potential policy integration of planetary boundaries with key stakeholders from science and policy.

What is the safe operating space for the EU?

• Build on lessons learned from existing downscaling approaches at the national scale (Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, UK).

• Quantify the nine planetary boundaries at the EU scale.

• Are there suitable EU-wide data and indicators to calculate these?

• Where are opportunities for EU policy integration of quantified boundaries?

Does the EU live within its safe operating space?

• Support the effort to measure the EU’s performance (on production and consumption) against the calculated boundaries.

• Compile and compare existing evidence for Europe’s production-based performance vs. Europe’s consumption-based performance.

• Consumption-based footprints: review and assess the maturity and robustness of existing methods and techniques and associated EU-wide data.

How can planetary boundaries inform EU policy?

• Systematic mapping of the planetary boundaries / safe operating space against existing relevant EU policies and associated data and indicators.

• Assess existing policy targets and the suitability of existing data streams and indicators for contributing to the measurement of EU performance.

• An assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated targets in relation to planetary boundaries.

KIP WiLoP - looking ahead

• Aim to downscale planetary boundaries to continental,

national, regional levels.

• How to measure performance against downscaled planetary

boundaries.

• Discuss opportunities and challenges for increased policy

uptake and integration of planetary boundary information,

at the EU and national levels.

Thank you

Hans.Bruyninckx@eea.europa.eu

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Optional slides to follow

EEA report on environmental taxation and EU environmental policies

• In economics, resilience refers to the adaptiveresponses to hazards that enable individualsand communities to avoid potential losses.

• The primary objectives and benefits ofenvironmental taxes are to reduce pollution andresource use.

• They have several secondary benefits –healthier society, trigger eco innovations etc.

• Environmental taxes can achievenon-environmental goals.

Societal resilience – adapting to situations that make us vulnerable

Source: ETC ULS, 2016

Example: Kingston upon Hull, UK

Newly built area 2006-2009

outside

potentially a flood-prone zone

inside

Kingston upon Hull

Living within the limits of our planet: what does this mean for Europe?

• What do we know about planetary boundaries?

• How to relate them to a European context?

• How does Europe perform?

• What is the meaning for EU policy making?

Living within the limits of our planet: what does this mean for Europe?

• What do we know about planetary boundaries?

• How to relate them to a European context?

• How does Europe perform?

• What is the meaning for EU policy making?