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Global Challenges and SDGs
Global environmental dimensions of EU policy
IEEP is closely involved in informing the debate on the global environmental contributions and consequences of EU policy and we actively provide input to the evidence base and policy debates in this sphere. In particular, we aim to ensure the highest level of ambition by the EU to contribute to the global climate and 2030 SDG agendas.
EU policies have both global aspirations and implications. The EU aims to support sustainable development and stability in third countries through its external policies and assistance programmes. At the same time, many EU policies – such as those on trade, energy, agriculture and fisheries – have direct and indirect impacts on land-use, natural resources and environmental and ecosystem quality outside the Union, as well as on the pattern of global economic development.
IEEP is among the leading experts on the development and assessment of policies and mechanisms that promote the delivery of better environmental and ecosystem quality across sectors. For example, our work seeks to ensure that the EU policy decisions affecting the demand, consumption and production patterns on bioresources lead to sustainable outcomes. We also support the development of EU’s circular economy policies so as to warrant a shift to sustainable consumption and production both in- and outside the Union, as well as to better understand global material and waste flows. We also work on the environmental and sustainability dimensions of trade policy, considered to be a key mechanism for the EU to support the 2030 sustainability agenda at global level.
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) have published the first independent quantitative report on the progress of the European Union and its member states towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed by all UN member states in 2015.
What are the global implications of the EU circular economy and how are they interlinked with trade? That is the question IEEP and partners are exploring this year under the auspices of the upcoming Finnish EU Presidency.
With the 2030 benchmark in the horizon, the EU needs to step up the contribution of its trade policy to biodiversity and sustainable development. IEEP identifies concrete opportunities how improving the integration of protected areas into EU trade agreements will help to support global biodiversity conservation as well as multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Environment and ecosystems underpin security, both in terms of human and national security. As part of the 2030 Sustainability Agenda, IEEP and partners call for a more holistic security regime for the EU, going beyond military preparedness or response and with due links to sectoral activities that impact the environmental quality and ecosystem resilience.
Environment and ecosystems underpin security, both in terms of human and national security. A new policy paper by IEEP and partners, launched during the Planetary Security Conference in Den Haag (19 – 20 Feb), calls for a more holistic and greener security regime for the EU.
The EU risks missing out on the opportunity to take a leadership role in the implementation of SDGs domestically and globally. This paper maps the action needed to step up the delivery of the 2030 Sustainability Agenda by the EU at the global level. The paper is part of the Think2030 initiative launched by IEEP and partners in 2018.
New study by IVM and IEEP concludes that the existing approach to assessing impacts of EU trade on biodiversity is inadequate. A more comprehensive approach building on more systematic use of biodiversity indicators and synchronized, fit-for-purpose use of different methods is needed.
The EU contributes to halting the global loss of biodiversity through conservation efforts within its own territory as well as at the global level. IEEP’s Marianne Kettunen explores the EU’s external biodiversity policy, arguing the need for a more coherent framework and effective implementation – and making the policy integral to EU’s action on SDGs at the global level.
The EU contributes to halting the global loss of biodiversity through conservation efforts within its own territory as well as at the global level. IEEP’s Marianne Kettunen explores the EU’s external biodiversity policy, arguing the need for a more coherent framework and effective implementation – and making the policy integral to EU’s action on SDGs at the global level.
Andrew Farmer examines the role of the better regulation agenda in shaping the processes and wider atmosphere surrounding the future of EU environmental policy.
In the immediate aftermath of President Trump’s decision to leave the Paris agreement, the sixth largest economy of the world, California, signed an agreement with China to fight climate change. While non-binding, such cooperation represents a “trickle-up” approach to global climate change governance and is part of a wave of initiatives from non-state actors including civil society, the private sector and local authorities.
Recurring questions on biofuels and ILUC are addressed in IEEP’s latest report to help build a robust policy to deal with ILUC and other impacts of large scale production of first generation biofuels.
