etat-environnement-europe

7.

The common timeframe that applies to the EU's 7th Environment Action Programme, the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–2020, the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon 2020) offers a unique opportunity to harness synergies across policy, investment and research activities in support of the transition to a green economy. Among the existing opportunities available, the report identified more particularly:

• The implementation, integration and coherence of environment and climate policy. The foundation for short- and long-term improvements in Europe's environment, people's health and economic prosperity rests on full implementation of policies, and better integration of the environment into the sectoral policies that contribute most to environmental pressures and impacts. Such areas include energy, agriculture, transport, industry, tourism, fisheries and regional development.
• Investing for the future. The production-consumption systems that meet basic social needs such as food, energy, housing and mobility rely on costly and long-lasting infrastructure, meaning that investment choices can have long-term implications. This makes it essential to avoid investments that lock society into existing technologies, and thereby limit innovation options or hinder investments in substitutes.
• Supporting and upscaling niche innovations. The pace of innovation and diffusion of ideas plays a central role in driving systemic transitions. In addition to new technologies, innovation can take diverse forms, including financial tools such as green bonds and payments for ecosystem services; integrated resource management approaches; and social innovations such as 'prosumerism', which merge the role of consumers and producers in developing and providing, for example, energy, food and mobility services.
• Improving the knowledge base. There is a gap between available monitoring data and indicators, and the knowledge required to support transitions. Addressing this gap requires investment in better understanding of systems science, forward-looking information, systemic risks and the relationships between environmental change and human well-being.