Land as a Resource State of play 5 March 2015

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

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" 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“ th 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).

Conference on Land as a Resource 19/6/ The issues at stake National and regional experiences Exploring possible EU answers

Resource-efficient use of Land / Natural Capital How to deal with synergies and trade-offs? Europe 2020 Green Jobs Europe 2020 Green Jobs Energy CAP Cohesion & Urban Policy Bio- economy Climate Adaptation Forest Strategy Water Policy Nature & Biodiversity Transport Policy Transport Policy Health & Pollution policies Health & Pollution policies

Costs of political inaction (or variant: large scale growth, jobs and investments plan) Socio-Economic variables Production Jobs Consumption Investment Private and Public finances External trade Socio-Economic variables Production Jobs Consumption Investment Private and Public finances External trade Land Degradation and inefficient use Land cover & use Land management Provision ecosystem services Land Degradation and inefficient use Land cover & use Land management Provision ecosystem services Socio-economic drivers – business-as usual scenario (or variant: large scale growth, jobs and investments plan) Socio-economic impact of measures Land use Efficiency policies Measures targeting Socio-economic drivers Socio-economic impact of measures Land use Efficiency policies Measures targeting Socio-economic drivers Macro-economic Linkages

Land Use Efficiency & Land Degradation Indicators Study on identification appropriate indicators & relevance and feasibility of setting targets ( land-targets-under-the-2014-land-communication-pbKH /) land-targets-under-the-2014-land-communication-pbKH / Net land take indicator: to complement with information on intensity and impacts of artificialization. Land recycling: still lacks common understanding terminology Land Degradation: indicators on Soil erosion and organic matter: EU- wide datasets, strengthen link with provision ecosystem services + water resources & biodiversity. Global impacts: beyond Land Footprint: bio-productivity and impact oriented indicators. Still high methodological / data challenges Land Use Efficiency: Overall economic / energy balance. Multi- functionality: specify minimum provision levels and maximum acceptable trade-offs. Need to address these topics together!

On-going activities Preparation of a technical report on indicators, trends and scenarios Identification of the need to act at EU level Integration into existing processes (e.g. follow-up SDGs Post 2015) Decision still to be taken on inclusion of a Communication on Land as a Resource in Commission Work Programme 2016.

Preparation of a ENV-JRC-EEA technical report Analysis of land degradation and inefficient use processes (Urbanisation and infrastructures, Bio- economy) based on: Set of indicators covering Land Use Functions Past trends (based on recent Copernicus Land Cover & Land Use 2012 data) Modelling scenarios with JRC LUISA platform Recommendations for improvement knowledge base

Identification of potential actions at EU level Policy Options Monitoring/ Evaluation Subsidiarity, proportionality tests Existing policy and funding instruments

Thank you for your attention!