DIRECTORATE-GENERALENVIRONMENT
Directorate B - Natural Capital
ENV.B.2 - Biodiversity
ENV.B.3 - Nature
CGBN
Co-ordination Group
for Biodiversity and Nature
15thmeeting – 19/09/13 (all day)20/09/13 (morning) /
Agenda item 3
Implementation of Target 2 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020
(DOC.3)
State of Play
Introduction
This document provides an update on progress in implementing Target 2 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 since the CGBN meeting of 21st March 2013. The three Working Groups (MAES, GI/RPF and NNL) have continued working in parallel, supported by a number of studies, service contracts and workshops. An update of the joint planning is attached (see Annex 1).
The total output of the various work-streams under Target 2 is extensive and CGBN members will find all the relevant documentation on CIRCABC. In order to focus the discussions in the CGBN, the Commission has identified a number of issues that it considers of particular interest (see below). However, this does not exclude that CGBN members identify additional issues that they would wish to discuss.
1. Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES)
The MAES WG met on 26thApril 2013 and took note of the state of progress regarding the six thematic pilots on nature, agricultural, forest, freshwater and marine ecosystems and natural capital accounting and workshop delivery under the MAES supporting contract.
The pilots will present their preliminary conclusions at the 6th MAES working group meeting on 18thSeptember 2013. They will have up to the end of the year to finalise the work, address cross-cutting issues and ensure coherence across pilots. The final recommendations and guidance documents will be in the form of reports from the MAES Working Group to be delivered to the Coordination Group on Biodiversity and Nature for review.
These recommendations and guidance will assist Member States in the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and ecosystem services to be undertaken in 2014.
Also in 2014, Commissioner Potocñik, in collaboration with Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn will, on 22nd May, host a major conference on the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and ecosystem services at which the outputs from the MAES activities will be presented. Member States' participation and contribution to this conference will be crucial.
DG ENV continues to work closely with JRC, RTD, ESTAT and EEA to ensure that the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services is properly addressed in future work-plans and programmes.
2. Green Infrastructure and Restoration Prioritisation Framework
Green Infrastructure
On 6th May 2013, the Commission adopted an EU-wide strategy on Green Infrastructure[1].This Communication foresees a series of actions which provide an enabling framework combining policy signals, technical or scientific actions, and better access to finance. The strategy will be implemented within the context of existing legislation, policy instruments and funding mechanisms. The Commission will review progress on developing GI and publish a report on lessons learnt together with recommendations for future action by the end of 2017.
The Communication emphasizes actions that need to be taken at EU level to make GI a success (see presentation given by the Commission) within the next 2 years. However, to ensure this success, authorities, businesses and civil society also need to take action at all relevant levels – local, regional, national and cross-border – to deploy Green Infrastructure in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. It is also crucial that competent authorities at all levels strategically integrate GI into spatial planning processes, with a coherent approach across scales.
The Commission plans to revivethe Green Infrastructure working group to collect views from Member States and stakeholders on how the enabling framework of actions developed by the Commission could best be taken forwardby MS and civil society. The working group is foreseen to concentrate on the implementation of actions of the GI Strategy and share best practicesat national, regional and local level.
The mandate of such a WG could include (a) mutual information exchange between EC, MS and civil society on the implementation of tasks mentioned in the GI COM; (b) agreeing on measures/processes which MS/civil society should/need to undertake to guarantee implementation on national/regional levels; (c) giving added value to EC actions by transferring them to the national context and vice versa; (d) developing useful indicators to monitor the uptake of GI, and on descriptors on which GI should in particular be funded by public and private funds.
The Commission has started activities to implement GI, including for example the publication of six guidance documents – the last one issued by DG REGIO on a "Guide to Multi-Benefit Cohesion Policy Investments in Nature and Green Infrastructure". Further work with other Commission services is ongoing to ensure thatGI is adequately prioritised in Partnership Agreements and Operational Programs, as well as work with the European Investment bank towards establishing a Natural Capital Financing Facility. The Commission is also preparing a brochure on GI for the wider public.
Regarding inter-institutional work, the Lithuanian Presidency has foreseen to discuss GI as a lunch item at the October Environment council, the European Parliament is preparing an Oral question on GI with a resolution to be adopted on 17/10 in the ENVI Committee, and then as soon as possible after that in Plenary. The Committee of Regions is preparing an opinion to be adopted on 08-19/10. The European Economic and Social Committee has foreseen the adoption of its opinion on 16-17/10. A joint Committee of the Regions/ EESC conference is foreseen on 4 November, to be opened by Commissioner Potocnik.
The CGBN is invited to take note of recent developments and the timetable for the respective institutional discussions.
Member Statesare also invited to provide their views on how to best encourage the deployment of the GI strategy at all relevant levels, and on the role of the planned Green Infrastructure Working Group in this respect.
Restoration Prioritisation Framework
The third meeting of the WG took place on 19thApril 2013. A workshop on restoration was held on 29/30 May 2013. A 4th meeting of the WG is scheduled for 2nd October 2013. The documents relating to these meetings are available on CIRCABC.
Action 6a of the EU biodiversity strategy foresees that by 2014, the Member States, with the assistance of the Commission, will develop a strategic framework to set priorities for ecosystem restoration at sub-national, national and EU level. On the basis of the discussions in the working group, the output from the workshop held in May and the work carried out by the contractor, considerable progress has been made towards a common understanding of the 15% restoration target and how Member States could move forward to identify priorities for restoration. The Commission intends to consolidate the results of the last 12 months of work as a guidance document, possibly in the form of a Commission services' working paper, to be published at the beginning of 2014. It is hoped that the Member States will take this guidance into account when developing their framework for setting restoration priorities at the sub-national and national levels. The many documents developed by the contractor will also be made available through the DG ENV website.
A key issue for the achievement of the 15% restoration target and a necessary part of the national/sub-national, restoration frameworks, is the allocation of the appropriate funds to support the restoration programme. The study of the potential costs of achieving the 15% restoration target of the EU Biodiversity Strategy (see item 5) can provide useful information when developing national programmes for restoration and also in quantifying the financial needs associated with restoration in the context of the Partnership Agreements, and Operational Programmes.
The WG on the RPF has contributed significantly to the guidance document that the Commission proposes to make available and to shaping the work and outputs of the contractor. Member States will now use these tools in developing their restoration prioritisation frameworks at national and sub-national levels.
The nature of the work to be carried out by the WG in the future should be reviewed now that the first phase of the restoration agenda is coming to an end.The Commission is of the view that the work on restoration is very closely linked with the work on MAES and the work on GI. The Commission would therefore propose that future work on restoration in the context of the CIF should be integrated into the work of the MAES and GI working Groups and that no further meeting of the RPF WG are needed.
The CGBN is invited to take note of and comment upon the actions that have taken place since its last meeting and of the Commission's intention to produce a guidance document to assist Member States in the development of the restoration prioritization frameworks at national and sub-national level.
Member States are invited to provide feedback on their intentions with regard to the development of national and sub-national prioritisation frameworks including the allocation of appropriate funds.
The CGBN is invited to comment on the Commission's suggestions regarding the way that restoration should be dealt with in the context of the CIF including the proposal to bring the work of the RPF WG to a close..
The Commission also invites the Member States to indicate their views with regard to the further assistance that they would hope to see from the Commission in 2014 concerning the development of the prioritization plans at national and sub-national levels
3. Biodiversity proofing and No Net Loss
Biodiversity proofing
As support for Action 7 (of Target 2), the Commission's recently published "Background Study towards biodiversity proofing of the EU budget" examines the opportunities for "Biodiversity-proofing" the EU budget, which is defined in the study as a structured process of ensuring the effective application of tools to avoid or at least minimize harmful impacts of EU spending and to maximise the biodiversity benefits. It applies to all spending streams under the EU budget, across the whole budgetary cycle and at all levels of governance. The study gives recommendations on the first steps and on the entry points of "biodiversity proofing" the EU budget with a focus on the CAP Pillar 1 and 2, ERDF, Cohesion Fund, CEF, TEN-E, TEN-T, EMFF, Horizon 2020 and the LIFE Programme.The biodiversity proofing tools or entry points are developed from the perspective of the EU, Member States and Regions; it explains where each of these actors could potentially interfere and how they can help the biodiversity proofing process.
Now, further work is needed to develop and test a concrete framework for biodiversity proofing the EU budget for Commission Services and Member States, to ensure consistency between the implementation of biodiversity policy and other EU policies. The Commission is therefore in the process of launching a new contract to support this work. It will build on the 'biodiversity proofing' tools and preliminary framework developed in the previous contract, whilst adapting the output to the outcome of the negotiations on the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financing Framework. It will provide an overview of the intervention points for different levels of decision-making, as well as the instruments that can be used and the synergies that can be achieved with parallel processes. The new contract is expected to start during the last quarter of 2013 and last for six months. A workshop is planned in this contextto get feedback on an initial version of the biodiversity-proofing common framework at regional, national and EU level.
The CGBN is invited to take note of plans for the new study, including on the workshop foreseen to take place in the first quarter of 2014.
No Net Loss
The 5th meeting of the No Net Loss (NNL) Working Group took place on 23rd May 2013, back to back with an international workshop on biodiversity offsets co-organised with the Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme, whichaddressed issues related to biodiversity offset design based on experiences of offset projects in various parts of the world, including the EU (e.g. application of mitigation hierarchy, metrics, additionality, like for like or better), as well as challenges of offset implementation, lessons from government-led approaches in the US, Australia and South Africa. Finally, there was a discussion of tools and approaches available to ensure offsets are successfully implemented for the long term such as trust funds, contracts, leases and performance bonds. A summary of the workshop is available on the NNL circabc site.
The 6th and last meeting of the NNL WG took place on 4 July 2013. Three outcome documents were finalised, reflecting the views of the members of the NNL WG on the scope and objectives of the EU NNL initiative, possible operational principles, and a glossary of terms agreed within the WG. These documents are available on the CGBN circabc site, as well as on the Europa biodiversity webpages.
The preliminary work on possible management and support instruments was not finalised, in view of work taking place in parallel in the context of the study on No Net Loss policy options, on possible instruments that address all stages of the mitigation hierarchy. This study aims to support the Commission in developing the NNL initiativeby developing potential alternative options, and analysing their main impacts. A workshop took place on 3 July in the context of this study, with the objective of gathering views from a broad range of stakeholders and experts on key NNL policy options, including:sectoral coverage;levels of biodiversity to be addressed;need for mandatory versus voluntary approaches; andspecific policy measures and their key design components.
The workshop included plenary presentations that gave a brief review of the policy background and aims of the NNL policy initiative, identified key pressures on biodiversity and ecosystem services that need to be tackled to achieve NNL, identified the broad range of policies that may be used to achieve NNL and summarised lessons learnt from the implementation of NNL policy measures in the EU and elsewhere. This was followed by parallel breakout discussions on three key NNL policy topics:Avoiding and minimising impacts (e.g. by enhancing existing EU instruments through enforcement, guidance and capacity building); Offsetting residual impacts from built developments and extractive industries; Offsetting residual impacts from land use and management changes from agriculture and forestry.The outputs of the workshop will feed into the final report of the study, expected by the end of 2013. The workshop documents, including a summary report of the outputs, are available on the NNL circabc website.
The Commission will draw on the outputs of the NNL WG and the NNL policy options study to develop a proposal for the EU NNL initiative. The next step is a formal internet consultation on the broad policy issues to be tackled. Work on an impact assessment involving all relevant Commission services will also start in parallel.
The CGBN is invited to take note of and comment on the outputs of the NNL Working Group and the planned next steps.
4. Financing needs in Relation to Target 2
The Commission has financed a study of the potential costs of achieving the 15% restoration target of the EU Biodiversity Strategy with a breakdown of projected costs by Member States under 4 different scenarios. This study is available on the CGBN CIRCABC site. The total estimated additional costs at the level of the EU range from € 0.5 to 11 billion per annum up to 2020 dependent upon the scenario. The economic benefit of achieving the target are certainly much higher than these costs but were not assessed in this study.
The units responsible for Biodiversity and Nature in DG ENV continue to work closely with colleagues in DG REGIO, DG AGRI, DG RTD and with the colleagues dealing with the LIFE programme in DG ENV, to ensure that EU funding mechanisms take proper account of the biodiversity agenda, including Target 2, at the implementation stage. The Prioritised Action Frameworks will be the main tool for ensuring a strategic approach to finance Target 1 of the Biodiversity Strategy. The synergies with Target 2 actions, in particular Green Infrastructure, should be explored, and reflected in the PAFs.
Discussions are also on-going with the EIB in relation to the setting up of a Natural Capital Financing Facility, to leverage private sector investments in projects that promote the preservation of biodiversity and natural capital. The NCFF would play a demonstration role and have a catalytic effect, by showing that projects preserving Natural Capital could also generate revenue, whilst providing proof of concept for the use of innovative financing mechanisms. It would target projects that are related to natural capital, i.e. projects that are innovative and have an ecosystem dimension, in a range of relevant domains including water, air, land and soil, and marine resources, with particular emphasis on the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES).It would be complementary to the existing activity of the EIB by targeting projects that are not usually in its pipeline, either because they are too risky or too small in size. The EU budget will help de-risking the financing of these projects and facilitate their development.
The possible sources of financing are still under discussion. LIFE is the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental and nature conservation throughout the EU, and is foreseen as one of the possible sources of financing. The possibility of transferring funds from grants to Financial Instruments is foreseen in Article 17 of the Commission's proposal in the new LIFE+. Other sources of EU funding are being explored. An ex-ante assessment is required for the establishment of any financial instrument in the new Financial Regulation (article 140). A study has been launched to support such an assessment.
The Commission invites Member States to take account of the financing needs associated with the delivery of the EU Biodiversity Strategy including the information in the abovementioned study,in the context of the Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes, in particular for prioritising Green Infrastructure and Restoration.
Member States are also invited to provide feedback on the direction of the discussions on the NCFF.