Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services in the EU

Transcription

1 Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services in the EU Laure Ledoux Deputy-Head of Unit, Biodiversity, European Commission DG Environment, Brussels Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services, EEA grants/european Conference, Trondheim,Norway, May 2015

2 Outline 1. The Policy context 2. Why MAES? Policy examples 3. The first phase of MAES 4. Towards the second phase of MAES 5. Conclusions and next steps

3 1. The Policy Context Aichi Target 2: EU Biodiversity Strategy translating Aichi targets at EU level 7 th Environmental Plan

4 The EU Biodiversity Strategy

5 Action 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy Improve the knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU Member States, with the assistance of the Commission, to map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory by 2014, assess the economic value of such services, and promote the integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level by 2020 The working group on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) oversees the implementation of Action 5

6 The new General Union Environment Action Programme to 2020 (7 th EAP) Decision No 1386/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council

7 Thematic priority objectives PO 1: Protect & enhance natural capital PO 2: Transition to resource efficient, lowcarbon economy PO 3: safeguard health & wellbeing Biodiversity Water, Marine Land and soil Forests Nutrient cycle Climate mitigation SCP, Waste Eco-innovation Industrial emissions Water stress Chemicals Air quality Drinking and bathing water quality Noise Climate adaptation

8 EU objectives on the Natural Capital for 2020 (a) the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services, including pollination, are halted, ecosystems and their services are maintained and at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems have been restored; (b) the impact of pressures on transitional, coastal and fresh waters (including surface and ground waters) is significantly reduced to achieve, maintain or enhance good status, as defined by the Water Framework Directive; (c) the impact of pressures on marine waters is reduced to achieve or maintain good environmental status, as required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and coastal zones are managed sustainably; (d) air pollution and its impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity are further reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical loads and levels; (e) land is managed sustainably in the Union, soil is adequately protected and the remediation of contaminated sites is well underway; (f) the nutrient cycle (nitrogen and phosphorus) is managed in a more sustainable and resource-efficient way; (g) forest management is sustainable, and forests, their biodiversity and the services they provide are protected and, as far as feasible, enhanced and the resilience of forests to climate change, fires, storms, pests and diseases is improved.

9 2. Why MAES?

10 Knowledge-base Action 5 Mapping & assessment of ecosystems and services (by 2014) Economic value assessment and integration into accounting and reporting systems(by 2020) Policy tools Action 6a Restoration prioritisation framework (by 2014) Action 7a Biodiversity proofing methodology (by 2014) Baseline Policy initiatives Action 6b Green Infrastructure Strategy (by 2012) Maintenance of ecosystem services Strategic approach to compensation Action 7b No Net Loss initiative (by 2015) Target 1 Nature legislation By 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15% of degraded ecosystems Target 5 Invasive alien species Target 3 Agriculture and forests Other EU legislation, WFD, MSFD Target 4 Sustainable fisheries

11 EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy and MAES Are Europe s ecosystems in good shape to continue delivering essential ecosystem services? Can we value the flow of ecosystem services from ecosystems to society? Which drivers of change increase or decrease the delivery of ecosystem services? We need to map and assess ecosystems and their services to improve knowledge and evidence base for policy

12 Mainstreaming

13 Ecosystem Services maps as tool for supporting policy and land management Agricultural policy: Enhancing the contribution of wild pollinators to crop yield Regional and urban policy: Mapping urban green to assess micro-climate and air quality Water policy: Novel ways to use data collected under the WFD Sustainable urban development: Mapping cultural ecosystem services to support urban planning Sustainable forest management: Ecosystem service maps to determine land use priorities

14 Agricultural policy Greening package of the new Common Agriculture Policy ( ): At least 5% of the arable area of holdings with an arable area >15 ha must be allocated to Ecological Focus Area. How to enhance crop pollination through smart spatial implementation of Ecological Focus Areas which delivers pollination services?

15 Mapping pollination gaps in agricultural landscapes

16 European Commission 11 ' 0'0"'E 12' 0'0"E 13' 0'0"E Deficit of potential pollination service low gap medium gap medium high gap - highgap %of deficit level 13.8% _.... ~ 25 km '' 31.5% II' O'O' E

17 Regional and urban policy Green urban areas deliver recreation, air quality and micro-climate regulation. Trees reduce summer temperatures in cities by evaporating water and they remove air pollutants and particulate matter via their leaves through dry deposition.

18 Miincheo N02 cone: 1:5 7 (mean JJ()Im3) Urban Forest: 29.2:> 96 Total N02 removed: (ton/year} Population density: 487 (inhablkm zj Metropolitan area surface: ~99 (kfn2j Warszawa / N<h cone: 1:; 'f (mean #JO/m'J Urban Forest: Total N02 removed: :;()44.71 (ton /year) Population density. 368., (lnnablkttjzj Metropolitan area surface: 8614 (!<.m2) JRC SCIENTIFIC AND POLICY REPORTS Direct and Indirect Land Use Impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy Assessment with the Land Use Modelling Platform FilipeB.IIi5taeSih a CatloLI\-alk CbrnJac~m1oru Gru.uZuh.an JoacbJ.mMa~ Claudia Baran.ulli CarolinaP~ IneV.m~.ast~~ Eda U'IUoaJu ""'""""" Sanh ~lubarda Km

19 Urban Atlas: Munich NDVI: Munich Adrienne Grêt-Regamy, MESEU workshop, Ispra

20 3. The first phase of MAES

21 MAES working group Conceptual model linking biodiversity to human wellbeing Typologies for ecosystems and ecosystem services (CICES 4.3) Common Assessment Framework Thematic and cross-cutting pilots EU institutions EEA: Ecosystem map, Ecosystem condition mapping and assessment, BISE JRC: Mapping ecosystem services ENV:Guidance and training RTD: Horizon 2020 Member States (MS) MAES started in almost all MS. Some MS have completed a national scale mapping Many MS have regional case studies Research community ESMERALDA: A dedicated coordination and support action FP7 projects OpenNESS, OPERAs, MARS Ecosystem Services Partnership, ALTER-net

22 Working streams Action 5 MAES

23 MAES overall conceptual framework

24 MAES working group activities Common Assessment Framework: Building blocks for an integrated ecosystem assessment Linking ecosystem condition to ecosystem services

25 MAES working group activities Pilot studies Results of the pilots on agriculture, forest, fresh water and marine are available in the 2nd MAES report Special report on Natural Capital Accounting Currently running pilots on soil and urban ecosystems anpilot_survey_2015

26 Mapping in the Member States

27 Assessments in the Member States

28 MESEU: Mapping ecosystems and their services in the EU and its Member States Three year contract study funded by DG ENV to support MAES using case studies in the Member States ( ) Survey based country profiles: Status of MAES implementation in the Member states (planning, stakeholders, capacity, data, outputs) Case studies on nation-wide mapping (gaps, methods, coverage) All documents and reports available on CIRCA BC

29 TRAIN: Training member states on ecosystem services mapping through hands on workshops Service contract funded by DG ENV to invite Member States to trainings on mapping ecosystem services Based on a joint JRC-EEA-MESEU workshop in 2014 MAES country teams (state official, researcher and GIS expert) invited to map ecosystem services based on country specific data sets. NL, FR, CZ, IT TRAIN workshops according to this format 1st workshop: 20, 21 and 22 January: AT, HU, LV, RO 2nd workshop: 17, 18 and 19 February: HR, CY, GR, LT, MT 3rd workshop: 24, 25 and 26 March: EE, IE, LU, SK, SI

30 ESMERALDA consortium: 25 project partners 20 European countries 2 linked Baltic countries Linked western Balkan countries 44 % university partners 28 % state or other superior organisations 16 % from other academia 12 % SMEs

31 Milestones of MAES ( ) 2012 Member States workshop 2013 MAES reports MAES high level event 10 th working group meeting MAES delivery workshop (15-16/12, Belspo)

32 4. Towards the second phase of MAES NCA will gain prominence in next steps of MAES, following initial focus on biophysical mapping and assessment MAES high level conference highlighted political importance of NCA, whilst recognising methodological challenges. Natural Capital as defined in 7EAP clearly focuses on ecosystems, in line with MAES focus. SDG process need for statistics that go beyond GDP, better transparency and accountability

33 7 th Environment Action Programme The integration of the economic value of ecosystem services into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level by 2020 will result in better management of the EU s natural capital' Work to develop a system of environmental accounts, including physical and monetary accounts for natural capital and ecosystem services, will need to be stepped up. This supports the outcome of Rio+20, which recognises the need for broader measures of progress to measure well-being and sustainability to complement gross domestic product. 33 ACTION: Developing and applying alternative indicators that complement and go beyond GDP to monitor how sustainable our progress is and continuing work to integrate economic indicators with environmental and social indicators, including natural capital accounting.

34 MAES stepwise implementation Successful step-wise implementation of : : Bio-physical ecosystem capital accounts (at EU level and in [some] MS) : Accounting for ecosystems and their services (at EU level and in [some] MS) : Valuation of ecosystems and their services (at EU level and in [some] MS)

35 Lessons from MAES NCA pilot concept of, and approach to, NCAs varies across countries EU policy processes are a significant drive (EU Regulation on environmental accounting, or EU biodiversity strategy/maes) National ecosystem assessments ongoing, also coering ecosystem services in some countries. Dedicated valuation work in several countries (e.g.uk, DE and FI)

36 Key issues in going forward Importance of maintaining link between biophysical assessment and biophysical and monetary accounts Need both aggregated accounts and spatially disaggregated accounts. Need explicit link between cross-cutting accounts e.g. Carbon, Land and Water, and ecosystem condition accounts, following MAES categorisation Need to develop an improved & shared data platform, establish first EU level pilot accounts

37 Knowledge innovation project (KIP) to establish the EU layer Key issue: Ecosystem accounting needs spatially explicit data layers. Such data (e.g. from LUCAS, Copernicus, FSS, Natura 2000 ) could be better integrated and a regularly maintained EU layer of accounts developed, which countries can link into. Approach: Design integrated system for an EU data foundation with key partners (EEA, ENV, Eurostat, CLIMA, JRC, RTD and MS) to develop and maintain a core set of EU level accounts. Timeline fits to MAES roadmap and step-wise approach.

38 KIP Objectives Biophysical accounts for direct use and as a basis for valuation studies, upscaling EU layer of accounts as a frame for countries and for EU policy -> we need the data foundation & the capacity to analyse these data Experiments and demonstrations with these accounts (on ecosystem capital) Stepwise standards & recommendations towards a common methodology => Knowledge innovation project on natural capital 38

39 IPBES and MAES Similar questions are addressed: Status and trends, drivers, scenarios, integrated analysis, link to benefits, relevance for sectoral policies. IPBES and MAES draw on the same key datasets High scope for synergies and cost-effective use of people and resources MAES as core EU input to the IPBES regional assessment

40 5. Conclusions and way forward Action 5 and MAES have been instrumental in generating, boosting, scaling up and harmonising mapping and assessment activities at national and regional scale Solid community of practice established across Member States and beyond A more complete picture of status of MAES in the different MS available by the end of 2015 as part of the mid-term review of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy MAES recognised as most advanced regional assessment scheme under IPBES and as core EU input to the IPBES regional assessment Increasing focus on values of biodiversity for human well being and natural capital accounting (KIP)

41 Thank you for your attention For more details on Biodiversity Strategy and related actions: Ecosystem Assessment Platfom: WAVES: 41

42 Policy commitments and activities Global EU Policy Commitments Activities and initiatives CBD Aichi Target 2 Rio+20: NCA communiqué; TFWW: alternatives to GDP Gaborone Declaration UN SEEA Vol 1 and 2 WAVES OECD better life Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission TEEB EU Biodiversity Strategy Action 5 GDP and beyond Communication & SWP 7EAP RE Platform MAES WG & pilots EEA ecosystem capital accounts ESTAT environmental accounts EU MS commitments and activities Corporate Natural Capital declaration TEEB 4 business coalition B&B platform

43 From mapping ecosystem services... Timber stock (m 3 ) Crop stock (%cropland) Livestock density Erosion control (forest area) Pollination potential Soil quality (%C) Water provision (%wetland) Water regulation (infilration) Water purification (retention) Carbon stock Atmospheric cleansing Recreation potential Protection (% coast habitat) timber services food security services water security services health and wellbeing

44 ... to modelling ecosystem services Climate and meteo data and projections Environmental datasets (air quality, water quality, biodiversity,...) pollination water regulation timber production coastal protection climate regulation water provision air quality regulation biological control recreation erosion control conservation status soil quality Land Use Modelling Platform ESTIMAP 44

45 There are some positive trends in several ecosystem services which are presumably driven by a complex interaction of changes in agricultural production, afforestation, higher ecosystem productivity and increased nature protection Pollination and habitat quality are worsening (JRC report 2015)