European policies addressing resource use include waste legislation, product policy based primarily on eco-design, and sustainable consumption and production. Rather than merely dealing with waste once it is generated, such policies are an ongoing attempt to use resources more efficiently from the outset. IEEP continues to increase its portfolio of projects on natural resources, undertaking research into natural resource use, policies for resource efficiency, and promotion of the circular economy.
IEEP uses a broad definition of ‘resources’ that includes land, soils, air, water, biodiversity, raw materials and products. We have a range of experience across a variety of relevant areas, including Agriculture and Land Management, Industrial Pollution and Environmental Governance, and are well-equipped to deal with specific project work in all of these areas. IEEP’s recent work in resource use includes contributing to studies on decoupling the environmental impact of resource use from economic growth, scenarios for EU resource use targets, the EU’s product and organisational ecological footprint methodology, and sustainable consumption tools.
Regarding work in this area, please contact Emma Watkins.
IEEP contributed to a major international report leading to a UN Environment Assembly Resolution calling for global action on marine plastic litter and microplastics.
Adherence to effective and workable sustainability criteria is an essential requirement when using public support to incentivise advanced alternative fuels.
Planetary Boundaries are a scientific approach to exploring critical thresholds to resource use. How can this concept become relevant for policymakers?
Improving the resource efficient use of wood through cascading the resource from one use to another, requires action throughout the wood flow. Current efforts focus on recovering and re-using waste wood but more could be done with the production and utilisation of wood processing residues and improving the balancing between the material and energy use of wood.
Defining effective and workable sustainability criteria for biofuels is one of the critical steps in decarbonising Europe’s energy sector. Such criteria must provide the necessary safeguards for the use of bioresources in Europe, as well as the policy and investment certainty required for sustainable deployment.
Defining effective and workable sustainability criteria is one of the critical steps in decarbonising Europe’s energy sector. They must provide the necessary safeguards for the use of bioresources in Europe, as well as the policy and investment certainty required for sustainable deployment.
Promoting the cascading use of wood through policy is one approach to improve resource efficiency and increase the overall availability of wood for use in a variety of sectors.
IEEP experts call for bridging the circular and bio-economy concepts, to support the transition of Europe’s land using sectors to a more resource efficient and sustainable future.
A new report by the European Policy Centre (EPC) summarises the existing evidence on the role of water in supporting human wellbeing. IEEP contributed to insights on the policy instruments available for sustainable water management.
Dr. Ben Allen presented IEEP’s views on the sustainable use of biomass at an international conference in Brussels. Understanding the scale of the resource is a key part of determining appropriate policy intervention and ensuring commercial viability.
Waste resources have the potential to provide a core component of developing bio-economies across the globe. A new IEEP report reviews how waste has been incorporated into existing bio-economy strategies, and the conditions that have enabled this.
The UK is exploring opportunities to develop a high value bioeconomy based initially on waste. IEEP is helping to identify international best practice examples in order to maximise the environmental and economic benefits of this new Government initiative.
This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter illustrates the variety of EU laws, policies and guidance documents that have been adopted to improve the efficiency of our use of natural resources and to reduce environmental impacts throughout a product's life cycle.
New report by PSI, IEEP, BIO and Ecologic provides an initial scoping assessment of priorities and policy options to support the transition to a circular economy in the EU.
This report synthesizes the assessment of policy-mixes in different sectors. It identifes the factors characterising effective policy-mixes and some of the most frequent shortcomings in policy-mix design.
The UK Government’s Balance of Competences review has now taken evidence on 25 subject areas, including the 6 with the most relevance for the Environment. We take stock of the IEEP’s contributions, and consider what a possible UK renegotiation might mean for the environment.
What should be Europe’s role in feeding the world in 2050, considering competing demands for land? This IEEP report for the European Parliament describes options for reusing food wastes and agricultural and forestry residues for biomaterials and bioenergy.
