Environmental policies for a more resilient...
Transcript of Environmental policies for a more resilient...
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
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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?