This new book edited by F. Oosterhuis (IVM) and P. ten Brink (IEEP) provides insights on the scale and impact of environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS), the importance of reforming such subsidies, examples of successful reform and their benefits, lessons learned and tools to support reform efforts.
A new IEEP led study concludes that mandatory biodiversity offsetting is required to achieve no net loss of biodiversity in the EU, but its introduction could be counter-productive if it is not introduced cautiously and regulated strictly. The first priority should be to better implement existing nature conservation measures.
IEEP gave a presentation on the way forward in reforming environmentally harmful subsidies at a seminar in Helsinki on 24 February.
IEEP gave a presentation on ‘Obstacles to phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies and how they can be overcome’ at a public hearing in the European Economic and Social Committee on 29 September.
Today, there is close to 25 years of experience with environmental tax reforms (ETR), with a growing number of countries engaging in ETR for various reasons. International experiences provide important insights on the design and implementation of ETR to facilitate more effective use of such instruments in the wider policy mix.
There is an urgent need to find sufficient resources to enable developing countries to implement the global targets for biodiversity by 2020. Financing the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity from different sectoral funding flows can complement global biodiversity financing.
Mire ecosystems are well-known for their unique species and habitats of high conservation value and they also provide a range of benefits to our societies and economies. This publication outlines the results of a pioneering project that aimed to identify and valuate ecosystem services provided by pristine mires and managed peatlands in Finland.
This new IEEP-led report presents insights on the importance of wetlands in delivering ecosystem services that are needed to support human life, and also for people’s livelihoods and the world’s economies. The report shows that demonstrating and using the values of ecosystem services related to water and wetlands can lead to better informed, more cost-effective, and fairer decision- making.
This new IEEP-led report presents insights on the importance of wetlands in delivering ecosystem services that are needed to support human life, and also for people’s livelihoods and the world’s economies. The report shows that demonstrating and using the values of ecosystem services related to water and wetlands can lead to better informed, more cost-effective, and fairer decision- making.
This policy paper provides a brief introduction and overview to the issues of environmental tax reform and environmentally harmful subsidies and outlines recent developments in the EU. It also outlines the remaining challenges in these areas and the potential role of the 7th EAP in helping to deliver the ETR and EHS agendas.
New report by IEEP launched at high-level conference in Brussels.
The effective utilisation of revenue from market based instruments is a way to achieve both environmental improvements in line with the promotion of a Green Economy, and to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Given the existing shortfall in climate finance, the potential to generate revenue through auctioning under the EU-ETS should not be overlooked.
Biochar has the potential to both mitigate greenhouse gases, and to act as an adaptation measure in terms of responding to the impacts of climate change. Based on its compatibility with the appropriate soil properties, it could increase the resilience of soil to erosion.
The EU needs to make a big push to secure better compliance with existing waste law. Non-implementation of EU waste law endangers human health and the environment, distorts competition, and is estimated to cost a total of €90 billion a year.
Waste management in the EU is improving, but implementation by the Member States of EU waste legislation remains patchy. This paper makes suggestions on how better compliance could be achieved.
This report investigates a range of economic instruments in place in the EU Member States to improve waste management. It focuses on disposal taxes, pay-as-you-throw systems and producer responsibility schemes, and attempts to assess their contribution to waste management performance.
The report is a contribution to the European Commission’s ongoing efforts to investigate and reform environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS).The study is based on three methodologies developed by the ...
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has recently released two reports on the development of market based instruments across Europe. Both reports are mainly based on work from a team led by IEEP, which ...