Global Challenges and Solutions

Our Work

The EU’s imprint on both the global environment and on environmental policy has been sizeable. It is expected to remain important in the years ahead, even as major economic players and new political dynamics emerge. How should Europe’s role evolve in a changing world? What has Europe got to offer and to learn? How can its own policies align better to global imperatives? We seek to explore these questions from nearly forty years of experience of policy making in the EU and its Member States.

EU policies have both global aspirations and implications. The EU aims to support sustainable development in third countries through its external policies and assistance programmes. At the same time a range of EU policies (trade, energy, agriculture and fisheries etc.) have direct and indirect impacts on land-use, natural resources and ecosystems as well as on the pattern of economic development at the global scale. While EU policies can – and indeed should - promote environmental and social good practice and avoid precipitating damage beyond its borders, the Union can also learn from other countries’ experiences and approaches to addressing environmental challenges.

IEEP’s work in this sphere focuses on the global dimension and external impacts of EU policies, both positive and negative alike. We aim to support the development of environmental and environment-related policies with global implications as well as feed into relevant international processes and discussions. These include follow up to the Rio+20 Conference and the development of Sustainable Development Goals for the post-2015 period. Our key areas of work include addressing the global challenge of biodiversity conservation, mobilising finance to support a shift towards a sustainable global green economy, addressing the global environmental impacts of EU policies, and enhancing environmental policy dialogues with Europe’s neighbours and partners.

 

More about our work in this area...

Latest in Global Challenges and Solutions

  • IEEP on France 24

    Céline Charveriat discusses US withdrawal from Paris Accord and breaking Antarctic ice shelf.

  • Greening taxes and subsidies in the Pacific

    IEEP will share its expertise on environmental taxation and the reform of environmentally harmful subsidies at a forum event on greening taxation and subsidies in the Pacific region during the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii.

  • Evidence before ideology

    The latest edition of IEEP's newsletter is now available. David Baldock argues that in 2015 solid evidence rather than political fashion will be required in scrutinising EU policy and economic performance. Also: fossil fuel subsidies; allocating fishing quota; and the launch of our new training programme.

  • The Manual: Front pages

    This is a chapter of IEEP’s Manual of European Environmental Policy. This chapter provides information on the authors, editors and editorial board involved in the Manual, as well as guidance on how to use it, and a brief outline of its content.

  • Environmental legislation and TTIP – looking into the detail

    New study from BIO by Deloitte, Ecologic and IEEP examines key differences in EU and US legislation in eight areas of relevance to the TTIP agreement.

  • On the path to a circular economy

    Read the lastest edition of our newsletter for our views on the circular economy package and much more.

  • Environmental policy and the UK’s review of the EU Balance of Competences

    The UK Government’s Balance of Competences review has now taken evidence on 25 subject areas, including the 6 with the most relevance for the Environment. We take stock of the IEEP’s contributions, and consider what a possible UK renegotiation might mean for the environment.

  • Evaluating international experiences with environmental tax reform

    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.

  • Biofuels and ILUC – Q&A

    Recurring questions on biofuels and ILUC are addressed in IEEP’s latest report to help build a robust policy to deal with ILUC and other impacts of large scale production of first generation biofuels.

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