At a ministerial meeting held today in Cascais Portugal, the contracting parties of the Convention for the Protection of the marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) agreed on a decade-long North-East Atlantic Strategy that aims to protect the sea and ocean.
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September 2021 GPP News Alert
The deadline for applications for the 2022 edition of the European Natura 2000 Award has been extended.
After 21 years of public service at the European Commission, of which the last 5 years were dedicated to growing the EU Business and Biodiversity Platform, Lars Müller is retiring. The Platform’s Team would like to thank Lars for his tireless effort to create partnerships in the area of biodiversity and natural capital, to encourage dialogue between businesses and financial institutions and to help them integrate biodiversity considerations into their decision-making and practices. It is fair to say that Lars played a central role in shaping the upcoming European business and biodiversity movement. Join us in wishing him joy and happiness in his next adventures. We are very happy to welcome Anna Karamat as the new coordinator of the EU B@B Platform.
The European Natura 2000 Award honours leading nature conservation achievements in Europe’s Natura 2000 network of protected areas. It raises awareness about Natura 2000, the work carried out by different actors to safeguard the network’s vital natural assets, as well as the health, cultural, societal and economic benefits that the network provides to us all. The applications process for the 2022 edition is open until 30 September 2021, and any entity involved in activities related to Natura 2000 – businesses, authorities, NGOs, volunteers, land owners, educational institutions and individuals – can apply to one of the five award categories: Conservation on land; Marine conservation; Communication; Socio-economic benefits; Cross-border cooperation.
On 5 July 2021, the EU Code of Conduct on Responsible Food Business and Marketing practices entered into force. The Code is one of the first deliverables on the Farm to Fork Strategy, and it is a key step in its action plan as it lays out the voluntary commitments that actors “between the farm and the fork” such as food processers and food service retailers can make. The Code contains seven aspirational objectives, together with a monitoring and evaluation framework to measure progress. The process to develop the Code began in December 2020 with a concept note prepared by the Commission, technical meetings with representatives from industry associations and NGOs, and task force thematic sessions. A high-level celebratory event on 5 July marked the launch of the Code.
The Europa Biodiversity Observation Network, or ‘EuropaBON’, provides a unique opportunity for stakeholders to directly contribute to biodiversity monitoring for decision-making in Europe. Its aim is to design by 2023 an EU-wide biodiversity monitoring system that integrates existing data streams (e.g., citizen science observations, remote sensing, long-term ecological research), fills remaining data gaps and overcomes important work-flow bottlenecks to effectively inform environmental policy and management. EuropaBON invites businesses to engage with it by becoming a member of the EuropaBON network and actively contributing expertise by participating in the various knowledge exchange workshops planned over the course of the next 2.5 years.
In June, the Align project - Aligning accounting approaches for nature - hosted its first interactive online event dedicated to biodiversity measurement and natural capital management accounting. The Community of Practice and the Technical Hub convened to discuss the move from alignment to standardisation and explore several initiatives and frameworks that require biodiversity measurement for reporting purposes. As a result of the discussions an outline of the recommendations for a standard has been developed to start the drafting process, and a timeline for the drafting process has also been agreed.
Building on the momentum of the 29 April workshop on engagement with companies, the EU Finance@Biodiversity Community met twice more this summer to broaden and deepen its discussion on the best ways investors can engage on questions of biodiversity with listed companies, and also on how banks can engage with their clients. Read more about the discussions the F@B Community had on biodiversity impacts and dependencies at the sector level.
Dear all,
Developments in nanotechnology mean that engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are found in increasingly large quantities on the European market. To manage any potential human health hazards, comprehensive risk-assessment tools and protocols are required. A novel model for the human health assessment of ENPs has been developed that ranks ENPs by risk, enabling the prioritisation of the most potentially hazardous ENPs in Europe. Click here to read more
Threatened Mediterranean coastal sand-dune habitats have outstanding conservation value — home to rare flora, rich in fauna and offering protection against storms. Yet there is a lack of recent comprehensive studies that survey long-term changes in these habitats. This re-surveying study quantifies functional and taxonomic changes over the last 10–15 years in a 75-kilometre (km) stretch of Italian coastal dunes. The researchers find that approximately 23% of threatened sand-dune habitats have disappeared from the surveyed area. Click here to read more
Do short-term reductions in methane emissions have a lasting impact on longer-term emission trends? A study seeks to answer this question by analysing emissions in 36 OECD countries from 1750 to 2014. The researchers conclude that actions do lead to permanent change, and that policies to improve emissions from agriculture, energy generation and waste can have long-lasting effects. Click here to read more
The new EU forest strategy for 2030 is one of the flagship initiatives of the European Green Deal and builds on the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. The strategy will contribute to achieving the EU’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.
The new EU forest strategy for 2030 is one of the flagship initiatives of the European Green Deal and builds on the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. The strategy will contribute to achieving the EU’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. I
The EU Eco-Innovation Index Policy Brief 2021 is out! The report provides an overview of the trends across EU27 over the last ten years as well as the European policies and initiatives that are expected to drive a better eco-innovation in the EU.
The Eco-Innovation Scoreboard has been updated with the latest data and now displays EU Member States' scores over the period 2012-2021.
As Europe sets its sights on ambitious new zero-pollution targets, EcoAP News takes a look at 2ZERO, a fledgling European Partnership that takes up this challenge on behalf of the continent’s road transport sector.
Mankind’s negative impact on the planet – and its health and environmental consequences – can be summed up in one word: pollution. Environmental and health policies seek to reduce pollution, often on a case-by-case basis, such as by banning or restricting a specific activity or substance.
