Two years after publication of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, we take stock of the implementation of its targets and commitments, and of the progress that has been made since.
Rural areas are impacted by climate change and biodiversity losses. It affects their surrounding ecosystems, their economy, and the well-being of rural populations. Supporting the sustainable transition of these areas is crucial, and the new EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas could play a pivotal role.
The new EU Soil strategy offers a policy framework to achieve good soil health in Europe by 2050. To reach this goal, there is a strong need to ensure an effective legal framework for soils coherent with other key EU policies such as the proposal for a nature restoration law, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) regulation.
This blog was written by Michael Nicholson, Head of UK Environmental Policy at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), who attended COP26 as an IEEP delegate. The statements expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent the views of IEEP.
IEEP has submitted feedback to the European Commission's public consultation on the review of the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Chapter action plan.
European soils are under great threat, an issue which the research and innovation-based Horizon Europe Mission on soil is aiming to address. IEEP welcomes the mission and R&I efforts for rapid and combined efforts.
This briefing gives an overview of the state of knowledge and current application of biodiversity footprint methods and tools in the EU, and identifies key future needs and opportunities for using these methods to support more sustainable decision-making.
What kind of information does the European Union need to get serious about implementing the Green New Deal? One critical aspect is finding out the impacts that its consumption and production is having on biodiversity, both at home and in other parts of the world: its biodiversity footprint.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) are two key EU policies that present opportunities to tackle the pressures intensive agricultural practices and pesticides place on pollinators. In support of the EU Pollinators initiative, IEEP has authored two reports evaluating to what extent these policies currently deliver for pollinator conservation.
Transitioning to pollinator-friendly farming practices is key to the recovery of pollinators. IEEP has been contributing to EU action for pollinators through a project supporting the implementation of the EU Pollinators Initiative. This included work identifying key measures and recommendations to improve farmland pollinator conservation.
Healthy multifunctional soils are key to put the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy into action. In light of the consultation on the new Soil Strategy, IEEP puts forward three main recommendations to ensure soils are adequately considered and protected in future EU initiatives.
Under the European Green Deal, the EU has pledged to minimise its contribution to deforestation and forest degradation around the world and to promote the consumption of goods from deforestation-free supply chains. But what will that mean in practice?
This briefing explores how European policies and the COVID-19 recovery efforts can better reflect the impact of the natural environment on people's mental health
The second edition of the flagship Europe Sustainable Development Report tracks the performance of the European Union, its member states, and other European countries on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The COVID-19 crisis has led to major changes in Europeans’ consumption habits, but our planet’s resources are not infinite, and the way we consume them today is not sustainable.
This briefing paper examines the returns on investment in EU agricultural research and innovation (R&I), outlining the multi-faceted societal, economic, and environmental benefits as well as the current limitations of measuring returns.
This report provides input to the ongoing development of the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy with a particular focus on the biodiversity and ecosystem objective.
The first in a series of three, this paper focuses on the rationale for the prioritisation of environment and climate goods and services from EU rural land, and gives some insight into how they might be incentivised.