Biodiversity offsets: What did the UK pilot scheme achieve?

Voluntary biodiversity offsetting was piloted in six English areas by local planning authorities and stakeholder organisations who agreed to take part in the government programme. IEEP and Collingwood Environmental Planning, together with David Tyldesley, assessed the UK government programme from 2012 to 2014.

The impacts of the UK’s low carbon energy policy on biodiversity: evidence and policy tools

The study reviews evidence of the impacts of UK's low carbon energy policy on biodiversity in the UK and abroad, and incorporates biodiversity effects of low carbon energy scenarios into the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change 2050 pathway calculator tool.

Gough Island in danger – IEEP assessment of World Heritage Site

IEEP assessed threats to Gough and Inaccessible Island World Heritage Site on behalf of the RSPB. The report brings together evidence that globally important seabird colonies and endemic species are under threat of extinction from invasive alien species, especially predatory house mice, and that the proposed mouse eradication programme should proceed as quickly as possible.

The PEGASUS project publishes its first Newsletter

Welcome to the first newsletter of the PEGASUS project! It provides information on the project’s progress to date and details on the 34 case studies currently underway in 10 EU countries examining how to ensure the improved delivery of public goods and ecosystem services in different farming and forestry situations.

Improving environmental financing via result-based agri-environment measures

A new article by IEEP explores the use of result-based agri-environment measures in the region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The study shows that result-based schemes can increase the environmental effectiveness and conditionality of the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

Wildlife crime and the EU

Wildlife crime threatens global biodiversity. The EU is both a destination and a transit region for illegally-traded products. A new study for the European Parliament summarises the situation in Europe and offers policy recommendations in view of the upcoming EU Action Plan. A set of in-depth case studies outline the situation in five EU countries.

Learning the lessons from CAP greening

What is the most cost-effective way to encourage basic environmental management across the farmed countryside in the EU-28? Learning from experience to date in greening Pillar 1 of the CAP, this report considers a range of options to increase the environmental added value from greening.

Potential policy and environmental consequences of Brexit

If the UK decides to leave the EU following the referendum in June, there would be significant consequences, not only for policy, law, and trade relations, but for the environment.

New report launch: Call for a new vision for responsible renewable energy with a clear European dimension

Claude Turmes MEP hosted an event launching both IEEP’s report and a debate on the future of renewable energy in Europe. In the our report IEEP present how a resource efficient energy system might be delivered in a way that minimises impact on biodiversity and the wider environment.

A New Vision for Responsible Renewable Energy with a Clear European Dimension

Renewable energy is key to the decarbonisation of Europe’s energy supply, however, the scale of expansion needed will have significant impacts over a considerable area. This new report suggests how a resource efficient energy system might be delivered in a way that minimises and mitigates impacts on biodiversity and the wider environment.

Conference on the Fitness Check of EU Nature Legislation

As part of the fitness check of the EU Nature Directives, the European Commission is organising a high-level conference in Brussels on 20 November. The purpose of the conference is to present and discuss the emerging findings from the assessment of evidence and information gathered during the process.

Protected area approaches in the EU

Protected areas play an important role in achieving biodiversity conservation targets. IEEP has compared the approaches and rationale of designating and managing protected areas in the UK and a selection of eight other EU Member States.

CAP greening: what are its environmental prospects?

A significant injection of money was agreed for ‘green’ farming practices under the recent CAP reform. This report examines the environmental impact these measures are likely to have on the ground and concludes that Member States’ implementation choices appear to have much diminished the chances of the greening measures delivering significant additional environmental benefits.

New PEGASUS website

Project website for EU research project PEGASUS goes live!

Tracking biodiversity expenditure in the EU budget

Results-based agri-environment schemes: new report and guidance handbook available

Are you interested in developing and implementing a results-based payment scheme for farmland biodiversity? Together with experts from across Europe, IEEP has produced a range of useful resources to guide the future development of results-based agri-environment schemes in the EU and beyond.

New open access book on marine litter

A new book, 'Marine Anthropogenic Litter', has been published comprising 16 chapters on various aspects of the complex issue of litter in the world’s oceans. Researchers from IEEP contributed a chapter on the economics of marine litter. The whole book is free to view online.

Result-based agri-environment measures: market-based instruments, incentives or rewards?

Biodiversity offsets: design of biodiversity metrics and mechanisms for securing long term conservation benefits

This study by ICF International, IEEP and national experts reviewed international best practice for designing biodiversity offsetting metrics and establishing mechanisms for ensuring long term conservation benefits from offsetting. It explores options for implementation at the European level and possible challenges. The report follows up on the IEEP report on policy options to achieve no net loss of biodiversity.