Environment policies

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 contains over 100 actions to be implemented by 2030 by EU to halt and reverse the dramatic loss of biodiversity. 2021 will be a key year in implementing the Strategy, with over 40 deliverables including some key policy initiatives such as action plans and strategies on pollution, organic farming, forests, soils, fisheries resources and marine ecosystems, a new law on nature restoration, a new initiative on deforestation, and adoption of a new, ambitious Global Biodiversity Framework.

In line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Commission is committed to better assess the impact of EU free trade agreements (FTAs) on biodiversity and ecosystems, such as forests and wetlands. The new methodology will contribute to further improve the sustainability impact assessments and ex-post evaluations of EU FTAs. It will also support the objectives of the European Green Deal. It is now being tested in the context of the ex-post evaluation of the EU-Colombia/Ecuador/Peru trade agreement.

May 2021 GPP News Alert

At the roundtable event the Construction Innovation Hub and the Capitals Coalition will introduce the Value Toolkit, to stimulate the discussion on the role that value plays in decision-making across the globe and to share insights from the UK on how this approach is shaping a more sustainable future market.

Take part in the third webinar of the series on financing investment in natural capital, organised jointly by the EIB and EU Business & Biodiversity Platform. This webinar will focus on “How to prepare financials and strengthen commercial viability of your project” and will be held on 14 May (15:00-16:00).

In early March, the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG) published the final report on the EU taxonomy of green economic activities.

EU ambassadors today endorsed a political agreement reached between Finland's presidency of the Council and the European Parliament on a EU-wide classification system, or "taxonomy", which will provide businesses and investors with a common language to identify what economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable.

Data storage has become an essential part of digital work, but it comes at a price. In 2015, data centres and server rooms already accounted for an estimated 2.25% of EU energy consumption, and their manufacture, cooling and end-of-life also have environmental impacts.