Running out of time? Stepping up action for Europe’s environment

Axel VolkerySenior Fellow & Head Environmental Governance

Brussels, 4 December 2012

Green economy on the rise in Europe and globally…

BMU, 2012: GreenTech made in Germany 3.0,CBI, 2012: the colour of growth: maximising the potential of green business

“In 2011, eco-industries provided 11 per cent of GDP in Germany“ (BMU, 2012)

“Over a third of the UK‘s economic growth in 2011-2012 is likely to have come from green business“ (CBI, 2012)

Market segment Status 2011 (in billion Euro)

Estimated average annual change by 2025 (in %)

Energy efficiency 720 3.9%

Sustainable water management 455 5.0%

Environmental friendly power generation and storage

313 9.1%

Sustainable mobility 280 5.0%

Material efficiency 183 7.7%

Waste management and recycling 93 3.2%

Total 2044

Green economy on the rise in Europe and globally…

Low-carbon and environmental jobs across England, 2011-2012

Green Alliance, 2012: Green economy – a UK success story

Are we doing enough?

“…almost four-fifths of the CO2 emissions allowable by 2035 are already locked-in by existing power plants, factories, buildings, etc. If action to reduce CO2 emissions is not taken before 2017, all the allowable CO2 emissions would be locked-in infrastructure existing at that time. Rapid deployment of energy-efficient technologies would postpone this complete lock-in to 2022” (IEA World Energy Outlook 2012)

“…To give ourselves a more than 50% chance of avoiding two degrees will require a six-fold improvement in our rate of decarbonisation. [… ] Governments’ ambitions to limit warming to 2°C now appear highly unrealistic. This new reality means that we must contemplate a much more challenging future.” (PWC, 2012, Too late for Two Degrees – Low Carbon Economy index)

Examining each of the EU’s strategic environmental priority areas, the story is broadly the same. We are making progress but we will jeopardise the wellbeing of current and future generations if we don’t step up our efforts (EEA, 2010 State of the European Environment and Outlook Report)

Overview of IEEP report

Scaling up action to 2030 and beyond

Protecting the natural

environment

Decarbonising Europe’s economy

Prudent use of natural resources

Better financing Better

implementationBetter information,

monitoring and assessment

Decarbonisation by 2030…

Infrastructure transformation in line with the needs of low-carbon energy supply, transport, buildings…

Demand side changes progressed substantially with falling use of electricity outside the transport and heating sector.

Transmission and storage systems are better organised at EU level.

Substantial investment in new industries forming the foundation of a low-carbon economy.

Decarbonisation priorities

Keep dynamic growth of renewable energies

Increase the flexibility of Europe’s

power grids

Speed up improvements in energy end use efficiency

Overall and sector-specific GHG emission reductions for 2030

Agree range of binding targets for energy efficiency for 2030

Agree range of binding targets for renewable energy for 2030

Reform of the EU ETS

Adequate support for smart transmission and distribution

Prudent use of natural resource by 2030…

A substantial reduction in the EU’s footprint so that our share of world’s resources is closer to the global average.

Waste is largely eliminated.

A strong bio-economy is in place.

Substantial investment in new industries forming the foundation of a circular economy.

Priorities for prudent use of natural resources

Establish routes to a

circular economy

Improve water management and land

use

Operationalise the Resource

EfficiencyRoadmap

Develop an EU natural resources programme

Greatly improve water management: water pricing and water efficiency is key

Make sustainable consumption matter: build up thematic packages of Directives, using regulation where appropriate

Agree relevant targets and indicators (by end of 2013)

Develop a coherent EU approach to land use (incl. soil)

Natural environment needs by 2030…

A functioning, high-quality Natura-2000 network with sufficient connectivity

Ensure strong contribution from CAP, CFP and Cohesion Policy to deliver on public goods

Build on a robust evidence base for prioritising action and continue strong action on no-net loss of biodiversity and ecosystems services

Substantial investment from private and public sources is provided

Preparing for 2030: Some critical issues

EU policy and investment cycles need to be better aligned: – Policy cycles might allow agreement on 2030 agenda by 2015 at the

earliest – Programming of investment cycles (i.e. EU budget) might pre-empt

decisions

Balancing long-term stability and flexibility: - Reviving market confidence requires long-term clarity and certainty- At the same time, some degree of policy flexibility is needed to take into

account policy evaluations

EU needs to invest into capacity-saving and capacity-building:• Clear, coherent and effective legislation• Better assistance and support to monitoring, data and assessment• Better involvement of civil society

Addressing implementation, finance, and information

Cross-cutting

priorities

Better financing

Better implementatio

n

Better information,

monitoring and assessment

Improving implementation

Better inspections

and enforcement

Better empowerment of civil society

Better policy design and

information

Deepen requirements for inspections in EU law and establish a EU inspection capacity

Final ‘check’ on clarity, coherence, and consistency of legislative texts

Better empowerment of civil society (access to justice, better complaint-handling)

Improving financing

Better use of environmental

taxes and charges

Reform of environmentally

harmful subsidies

Better spending and

attracting private capital

Revise Energy Taxation Directive

Minimum criteria for environmental levies

Environment & climate mainstreaming and –proofing

Streamlined and better financed ‘innovative’ instruments

Inventory of harmful subsidies & regular reporting

Improving information, accounting and assessment

Better information

and monitoring

Better accounting

Better assessment

Better argue the economic case:• Cost of non-/poor implementation

(score card of implementation)• Opportunity costs of inaction

Push for capacity-saving approaches: • A coherent approach to

environmental assessment• Revision of reporting requirements

where possible• Guidelines for monitoring

Push for capacity-building: • Invest in science-policy interfaces• Develop natural capital accounting

systems• Aggregate indicators/beyond GDP

Making it happen?

• Conditions are far from being easy – need to balance ambition and pragmatism in a strategic focus

– Be simple: We have too many strategies– Be many: Need to build coalitions and understanding - bring in regions

and progressive business more systematically– Be explicit: Better argue the economic case– Be tough: Prioritise a stricter stance on legal enforcement– Be flexible: Working towards common ends should be the goal, but

pathways could become more flexible

Thank you for your attention

IEEP staff: Sirini Withana, David Baldock, Doreen Fedrigo-Fazio, Patrick ten Brink, Raphael Sauter, Peter Hjerp and many more

External Advisory Group: Christian Hey, Domingo Jimenez-Beltran, Mikael Skou-Andersen, John Seager, Jerzy Jendroska

With thanks to the Villum Foundation for supporting this process

IEEP is an independent not for profit institute dedicated to advancing an environmentally sustainable Europe through policy analysis, development and dissemination.

For further information see: http://www.ieep.euFollow us on twitter: IEEP_EU

This presentation represents the views of IEEP staff only