Communication on "Land as a Resource"

Jacques DELSALLEHead of sector Land & Soil

European Commission, DG Environment

FoEE Conference "Putting resource efficiency back on the agenda"

Brussels, 24 November 2014

Policy Background

• 2011 EU2020 Strategy / Road Map for resource-efficient Europe (RERM) • Milestone: “By 2020, EU policies take into account their direct and indirect

impact on land use in the EU and globally, and the rate of land take is on track with an aim to achieve no net land take by 2050;

• soil erosion is reduced and the soil organic matter increased, with remedial work on contaminated sites well underway".

• 2012 Rio+20 outcome document “The future we want”:• land and soil degradation recognized as a global problem• Milestone on land: "strive to achieve a land degradation neutral world in the

context of sustainable development“

• 2013 7th Environment Action Programme for the EU• calls for setting targets on land take and on a number of crucial soil quality

aspects (erosion, organic matter and contamination).

Launch of the process:Conference 19/6/2014

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/land_use/conference_en.htm • The issues at stake

• National and regional experiences

• Exploring possible EU answers

Land as a Resource:at the crossroad of objectives 1 and 2 of 7th Environmental Action Programme (EAP)

Land as a

resource

What will be the Communication about?

• Raising awareness about :• Value of land as a resource for crucial ecosystem services (provisioning,

regulating, cultural, etc.);• Trends in land demand and land availability, trade-offs and nexus…• Wider socio-economic impacts of land degradation and inefficient land

use

• Providing pointers for further action at EU level:• Evaluate the effectiveness of current policy instruments at National, EU

and global levels;• Define the sustainable level of ambition for a set of objectives

(targets?) for pressures, state, impacts or responses• Assess options for EU contribution to a more sustainable management

of land as a resource.

Towards a definition for land use efficiency

• Maximizing the net socio-economic benefits from land use,• Territorial value added?• Value of ecosystem services• Externalities: energy, pollution• Take into account global impacts• Impact on jobs

• without degrading natural capital, • Natural Capital accounting: soil, water, biodiversity• Temporal, geographical dimension of potential trade-offs

• taking into account the suitability of land for different functions (1ha 1ha…)• Soil quality• Water resources• Habitats & ecosystems• Climatic conditions• Topography• Localisation

Resource-efficient use of Land Natural CapitalHow to deal with synergies and trade-offs?

Europe 2020Green Jobs

Europe 2020Green Jobs

EnergyEnergy

CAPCAP

Cohesion & Urban Policy

Cohesion & Urban Policy

Bio-economyBio-economy

Climate AdaptationClimate Adaptation

Forest StrategyForest Strategy

Water PolicyWater Policy

Nature & BiodiversityNature & Biodiversity

TransportPolicy

TransportPolicy

Health &Pollution policies

Health &Pollution policies

Indicators & targets

• Study on identification appropriate indicators & relevance and feasibility of setting targets • Net land take indicator: to complement with information on

intensity and impacts of artificialization• Land recycling: still lacks common understanding terminology• Soil erosion and organic matter: EU-wide datasets, strengthen

link with provision ecosystem services• Multi-functionality: specify minimum provision levels and

maximum acceptable trade-offs.• Global impacts: beyond Land Footprint: bio-productivity and

impact oriented indicators. Still high methodological / data challenges

• Need to address these topics together!

Policy drivers

DPSIR analysis of land degradation and inefficient use processes:

•Urbanisation and infrastructures

•Bio-economy

Identification of options for action at EU level

•Subsidiarity, proportionality tests

•Existing policy and funding instruments

Next steps• Public stakeholder consultation

on options for action at EU levels, in particular• Indicators for land-use

efficiency and land degradation

• Concrete integration of sustainable land management in EU policy and funding instruments

• Improved and cost-efficient knowledge base

• Adoption foreseen 2nd half 2015

Thank you for your

attention!http://ec.europa.eu/environment/land_use/index_en.htm