# EUR-Lex - 52013DC0249 - EN

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# 52013DC0249

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Green Infrastructure (GI) — Enhancing Europe’s Natural Capital /* COM/2013/0249 final */**

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Green Infrastructure (GI) — Enhancing
Europe’s Natural Capital

1.1.        Background

Human society depends on the benefits
provided by nature such as food, materials, clean water, clean air, climate
regulation, flood prevention, pollination and recreation[1]. However, many of these
benefits, frequently referred to as ecosystem services, are used as if their
supply is almost unlimited and treated as free commodities whose true value is
not fully appreciated. This can result in public authorities turning to built
infrastructure — grey infrastructure — as a substitute for natural solutions to
problems such as flood prevention. In Europe we consequently continue to
degrade our natural capital, jeopardising our long-term sustainability and undermining
our resilience to environmental shocks. As stated in the Resource Efficiency
Roadmap[2],
the failure to protect our natural capital and to give a proper value to
ecosystem services will need to be addressed as part of the drive towards
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth which is the EU’s priority Europe 2020[3]. The roadmap identifies investing
in GI as an important step towards protecting natural capital. The EU
Biodiversity Strategy to 2020[4]
includes a commitment for the Commission to develop a GI strategy[5]. The Resource Efficiency
Roadmap states that the Commission will draft a Communication on GI. This document
is the Commission’s response to these commitments[6]. It sets out how EU-wide action
can add value to the local initiatives currently underway.

1.2.        What is GI?

GI is a successfully tested tool for
providing ecological, economic and social benefits through natural solutions.
It helps us to understand the value of the benefits that nature provides to
human society and to mobilise investments to sustain and enhance them. It also
helps avoid relying on infrastructure that is expensive to build when nature
can often provide cheaper, more durable solutions. Many of these create local job
opportunities. Green Infrastructure is based on the principle that protecting
and enhancing nature and natural processes, and the many benefits human society
gets from nature, are consciously integrated into spatial planning and
territorial development. Compared to single-purpose, grey infrastructure, GI has
many benefits. It is not a constraint on territorial development but promotes
natural solutions if they are the best option. It can sometimes offer an
alternative, or be complementary, to standard grey solutions.

Many definitions of GI have been developed[7]. It is therefore difficult to cover
all aspects in one short paragraph. The following working definition will however
be used for the purposes of this Communication.

GI: a
strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other
environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of
ecosystem services. It incorporates green spaces (or blue if aquatic ecosystems
are concerned) and other physical features in terrestrial (including coastal)
and marine areas. On land, GI is present in rural and urban settings.

2.           2. The Contribution of GI to EU Policies

2.1.        Introduction

GI can make a significant contribution to
the effective implementation of all policies where some or all of the desired
objectives can be achieved in whole or in part through nature-based solutions. There
is usually a high return on GI investments and overall reviews of restoration
projects typically show cost-benefit ratios in the range of 3 to 75[8].

2.2.        Regional Policy

In the Commission’s proposals for the
Cohesion Fund[9]
and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)[10], Green Infrastructure is
specifically identified as one of the investment priorities. Green Infrastructure
is recognised as contributing to regional policy and sustainable growth in Europe[11] and facilitating smart and
sustainable growth through smart specialisation[12].

Box 1: Natural
and cultural heritage are parts of the EU’s territorial capital and identity. Ecological values, environmental quality
and cultural assets are crucial to well-being and economic prospects. Over-
exploitation of these natural resources is recognised as a threat to
territorial development. Working with nature and in harmony with the local
landscape to deliver essential goods and services through GI projects, using a ‘place-based’
approach, is cost-effective and preserves the physical features and identity of
the locality[13].

GI solutions are particularly important in
urban environments in which more than 60 % of the EU population lives[14]. GI features in cities deliver
health-related benefits such as clean air and better water quality. Healthy
ecosystems also reduce the spread of vector-borne diseases. Implementing Green Infrastructure
features in urban areas creates a greater sense of community, strengthens the link
with voluntary actions undertaken by civil society, and helps combat social
exclusion and isolation. They benefit the individual and the community
physically, psychologically, emotionally and socio-economically. GI creates
opportunities to connect urban and rural areas and provides appealing places to
live and work in[15].
Through urban food production and community gardens, which are efficient tools to
educate school children and engage the interest of young people in particular,
it addresses the disconnect between the production and consumption of food and
helps increase its perceived value. Investments in GI have significant
potential to strengthen regional and urban development, including by
maintaining or creating jobs[16].

Box 2: Using land
instead of air conditioning — and saving money. Lower humidity in urban areas due to the absence of
vegetation and the increased absorption of energy from the sun caused by dark
asphalted or concrete surfaces are the main reasons inner city areas are often
many degrees warmer than their surroundings. This phenomenon, known as the
urban heat island effect, can have serious consequences, particularly during
heat waves, for the health of vulnerable groups of people, such as those who
are chronically ill or the elderly. The moist air nature provides for free could
be artificially recreated using electricity to evaporate water, but it is
estimated that this would cost around EUR 500 000 per hectare.
Working with nature and using GI in an urban environment, for example by
incorporating biodiversity-rich parks, green spaces and fresh air corridors,
can help mitigate the urban heat island effect[17].

2.3.        Climate Change and Disaster
Risk Management

Ecosystem-based approaches are strategies
and measures that harness the adaptive forces of nature. They are among the
most widely applicable, economically viable and effective tools to combat the
impacts of climate change. When appropriate, such approaches use GI solutions, because
they use biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation
strategy to help people adapt to or mitigate the adverse effects of climate
change. The recent EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change[18] therefore aims to explore the
need for additional guidance for authorities and decision-makers, civil
society, private business and conservation practitioners on ensuring the full
mobilisation of ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation. GI initiatives in
agriculture and forestry sectors that have a positive effect on carbon stocks
and the greenhouse gas balances in the Member States will be taken into account
in the framework of LULUCF[19],
thus helping to put EU and UNFCCC climate policies into practice.

Box 3: GI in
relation to climate change mitigation and adaptation. An example of the many benefits of restoring
natural capital is the ecological restoration of floodplain forests. Properly
functioning floodplain forests can deliver many benefits, such as filtering
water, maintaining the water table and preventing erosion. The forest also
mitigates climate change effects by storing CO2 and providing
bio-materials that can act as temporary carbon stores (harvested wood products)
or as carbon substitutes, replacing carbon-intensive materials and fuels, as
well as acting as a ‘safety valve’ to store water and reduce the risk of
flooding in human settlements. Restoring floodplain forests is often cheaper in
terms of one-off and maintenance costs than purely technical solutions such as
building dams and floodplain reservoirs. Since restoration measures for the
floodplain forest also re-connect the river with the adjoining floodplain, they
ensure connectivity for species of European importance such as the otter and rare
fish and bird species.

GI will also be a necessary adjunct to reducing
the carbon footprint of transport and energy provision, mitigating the negative
effects of land uptake and fragmentation and boosting opportunities to better
integrate land use, ecosystem and biodiversity concerns into policy and
planning. GI solutions can contribute significantly to the development of Green
Transport Corridors, using the potential of healthy ecosystems e.g. to sustainably
mitigate carbon emissions.

The Directive on the energy performance of buildings[20] will promote the development
and use of new materials and new design features in building construction as
part of the drive to reduce the significant level of GHG emissions from this sector.
GI solutions such as green roofs and walls can help reduce GHG emissions. This
is because they require less energy for heating and cooling and deliver many
other benefits, such as water retention, air purification and biodiversity
enrichment.

GI solutions that boost disaster resilience
are also an integral part of EU policy on disaster risk management. Climate
change and infrastructure development make disaster-prone areas more vulnerable
extreme weather events and natural disasters, such as floods, landslides,
avalanches, forest fires, storms and wave surges that cost lives and are the cause
of billions of euros of damage and insurance costs each year in the EU. The
impacts of such events on human society and the environment can often be
reduced using GI solutions such as functional flood plains, riparian woodland,
protection forests in mountainous areas, barrier beaches and coastal wetlands
that can be made in combination with infrastructure for disaster reduction,
such as river protection works. GI can also help reduce vulnerability to risks
by supporting local livelihoods and economies. Investments in ecosystem-based
disaster risk reduction and GI can thus provide many benefits for innovative
risk management approaches, adapting to climate change-related risks, maintaining
sustainable livelihoods and fostering green growth[21]. Cities and local authorities
are the first to deal with the immediate consequences of such disasters. They
therefore play a critical role in implementing prevention measures such as GI.

Box 4: Building resilience
and improving our defences. With
regard to coastal flood
defence, the Alkborough Flats managed realignment scheme on the Humber Estuary
in England has delivered benefits for coastal flood protection and reduced and
deferred expenditure on man-made coastal defences. The scheme is estimated to
deliver an annual flood protection benefit of £ 400 667 (EUR 465 000),
delivering total benefits with a present value of £ 12.2 million (EUR 14 million),
as well as other benefits for wildlife and ecosystem services. The scheme cost
£ 10.2 million (EUR 11.8 million) and involved the restoration of
tidal habitats on 440 hectares of agricultural land.

2.4.        Natural Capital

Green Infrastructure can play an important
role in protecting, conserving and enhancing the EU’s natural capital, as
stated in the Commission’s recent proposal for an Environmental Action
Programme to 2020[22].

Land and Soil

Land and soil are key components of the EU’s
natural resources and yet each year, more than 1 000 km2 of territory are
subject to land-take for housing, industry, roads or recreation[23]. In many regions soil is
irreversibly eroded, or has low organic matter content. Soil contamination is
also a serious problem[24].
Systematically including GI considerations in the planning and decision-making
process will help reduce the loss of ecosystem services associated with future
land take and help improve and restore soil functions.

The management of land devoted to
agriculture and forestry has a major impact on the condition of the EU’s natural
capital. In recognition of this link, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and
rural development provide instruments and measures to encourage GI and to enhance
areas with a high nature value in the countryside. This applies to large-scale
direct support for farmers in the CAP’s first pillar, preventing land
abandonment and fragmentation, and to smaller-scale measures supported through
rural development programmes in the second pillar, including non-productive
investments, agro-environmental measures (e.g. farmed landscape conservation
measures, maintaining and enhancing hedgerows, buffer strips, terraces, dry
walls, sylvo-pastoral measures etc.), payments fostering the coherence of
Natura 2000, cooperation on maintaining valuable field boundaries, and conserving
and restoring rural heritage features.

The Commission included additional greening
aspects in its proposals for reforming the Common Agricultural Policy. They include
the requirement that farmers who receive first-pillar payments maintain
existing permanent grassland on their holding and that 7 % of the arable
and permanent crop land be ecological focus areas[25]. If properly implemented,
these measures can contribute to GI. Because implementing GI approaches
requires an integrated view of ecosystem services, it encourages a balanced
approach that emphasises the multifunctional nature of rural areas, including
access to sustainable, safe and nutritional food through short food supply
chains. Green Infrastructure will therefore foster a more coherent approach to
decision-making in relation to integrating ecological and sustainability concerns
into spatial planning in the rural and urban landscape.

Box 5: Action in
agricultural areas. The young
farmers association of Seville, Spain managed a pioneering LIFE project to
develop a model for more sustainable soil management. The project focused on
areas where greater arboreal crop coverage and more intensive production had
led to an increase in sedimentation, fertiliser run-off and pesticide
pollution. It identified what types of vegetation cover provided the best
protection against erosion. The soil’s better retention capacity was an
additional benefit to the associated improvements in water quality from
diminished agrichemical run-off. This also had a positive effect on local
landscape quality and biodiversity. On a broader scale, the change in land
cover made the agrarian landscape more coherent and resilient, notably to
climate change.

The forthcoming new Forestry Strategy will integrate
other environmental concerns and address the achievement of the forest sub-target
under the Biodiversity Strategy. Measures to significantly reduce forest
fragmentation and degradation and restore degraded forests can also help improve
the conservation status of species and habitats that depend on or are affected
by forestry, and help improve the provision of related ecosystem services. GI can
make a constructive contribution in this regard by providing a coherent
framework within which natural features and functions are conserved and
enhanced in forest areas.

Water

Integrating GI considerations into river
basin management can contribute significantly to delivering good water quality,
mitigating the effects of hydro-morphological pressures and reducing the
impacts of floods and droughts[26].
Green Infrastructure also offers cost-effective options[27] for better implementing the
Drinking Water Directive[28]
and the Groundwater Directive[29].
Innovative multi-benefit, highly efficient and cost-effective green solutions
are also being developed for treating waste water[30].

Box 6: Action on
water-related agro-environmental measures. In Sint-Truiden in Belgium, measures were taken to
protect the village from soil erosion and mud floods. They included grassed
waterways, grassed buffer strips and retention ponds in the catchment area. The
total cost of these measures was low (EUR 126/ha/20 years) compared to damage
remediation and clean-up costs caused by muddy floods in the study area (EUR 54/ha/year)
and all secondary benefits, including better downstream water quality; lower
downstream dredging costs; less psychological stress for inhabitants and greater
biodiversity. Greater biodiversity and better landscape quality created new
agro- and eco-tourism opportunities.

With regard to the marine environment, GI
can help put the current strategies on marine spatial planning and integrated
coastal zone management[31]
into practice, in particular the strategies for sustainably managing coastal
zones and making coastal defences more efficient. Further developing blue carbon[32] approaches, beneficial for
fish stocks, can also profit from the application of GI principles to promote
multiple ecosystem services in the marine environment.

Nature Conservation

Natura 2000 is an ecological network
established under the Habitats[33]
and Birds Directives[34].
It comprises more than 26 000 sites spread across all the Member States
and occupies 18 % of the EU’s land territory and around 4 % of marine
waters within Member States’ jurisdiction. It was established mainly to
conserve and protect key species and habitats across the EU, but it also
delivers many ecosystem services to human society. The value of these services has
been estimated at EUR 200-300 billion per annum[35]. The work done over the last
25 years to establish and consolidate the network means that the backbone of the
EU’s GI is already in place. It is a reservoir of biodiversity that can be
drawn upon to repopulate and revitalise degraded environments and catalyse the development
of GI. This will also help reduce the fragmentation of the ecosystem, improving
the connectivity between sites in the Natura 2000 network and thus achieving
the objectives of Article 10 of the Habitats Directive[36].

3.           Developing an EU Strategy for Green
Infrastructure

As shown in the previous sections, GI can
make a significant contribution to achieving a number of key EU policy
objectives. This section looks at what needs to be done to encourage the
development of GI and what should be done at EU level.

The EU dimension — issues of scale and
policies

The development of GI in the EU is at a
crossroads. Over the last 20 years, more and more GI projects have been carried
out and there is a wealth of experience demonstrating that the approach is
flexible, sound and cost-effective. GI projects are carried out on a local,
regional, national or trans-boundary scale. However, to optimise the
functioning of GI and maximise its benefits, work on the different scales of GI
should be interconnected and interdependent. This means that the benefits are
significantly enhanced when a minimum degree of consistency and coherence is
achieved across the different scales. If no action is taken at EU level, there
will be only a few independent initiatives that do not deliver their full
potential to restore natural capital and cut the costs of heavy infrastructure[37]. This is why stakeholders are
looking for a clear, long-term commitment from the EU to developing and deploying
GI.

Integrating GI into the key policy areas

As set out in section 2, GI can make a significant
contribution in the areas of regional development, climate change, disaster
risk management, agriculture/forestry and the environment. In most cases, the
contribution GI can make is already recognised. What is needed now is to ensure
that it becomes a standard part of spatial planning and territorial development
that is fully integrated into the implementation of these policies. For the
full potential of Green Infrastructure to be realised within the timeframe of
the next budgetary envelope (2014 to 2020), the modalities for using it must be
established as soon as possible to facilitate its integration into projects
funded through the appropriate funding mechanisms such as the Common
Agricultural Policy, the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund,
Horizon 2020, the Connecting Europe Facility, the European Maritime and
Fisheries Fund and the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE).

The need for consistent, reliable data

Consistent, reliable data are essential for
effectively deploying GI. Information is needed about the extent and condition
of ecosystems, the services they provide and the value of these services[38] so that ecosystem services are
correctly valued and then priced if appropriate, to promote GI solutions in
spatial planning and decision-making processes in relation to infrastructure. While
it is clear that most decisions regarding GI projects will be taken at local,
national and regional levels, a minimum level of consistency should be
encouraged in relation to the data used to inform these decisions, particularly
for projects supported by EU funds.

Although there is currently a lot of data,
in most cases they have not been generated or assessed in a consistent or
coordinated way. Within the context of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, together
with the European Environment Agency, other research bodies and agencies, the Member States and stakeholders, the Commission is working to ensure the most effective use
of data from current and planned actions. This work will continue in the future
but it should ideally be reinforced and the scientific community’s input should
be strengthened. The EU has a significant role to play in this process, in
particular by providing financial support for programmes that tackle this
knowledge gap, such as Horizon 2020 and the European Structural and Investment Funds.

Improving the knowledge base and
encouraging innovation

Our understanding of the technical issues
associated with deploying Green Infrastructure has developed considerably in
recent years. Nevertheless, more research is needed to improve our
understanding of the links between biodiversity (species/habitats) and the condition
of the ecosystem (vitality, resilience and productivity) and between the condition
of the ecosystem and its capacity to deliver ecosystem services. Further
insights into the valuation of ecosystem services, in particular the social,
health and security/resilience benefits of GI solutions, would also be
extremely useful for underpinning the future development of GI. Investments in
applied research to test and apply innovative GI solutions should also be
encouraged.

The potential of GI to deliver
cost-effective solutions will be further increased by developing appropriate
technology and processes, particularly in relation to transport, energy,
agriculture, the design and functioning of our cities and boosting the
bio-economy[39].
In cities ‘intelligent’, resource-efficient buildings, incorporating green
features such as green roofs and walls and made with new materials, can deliver
environmental, social and health benefits[40].
Alongside technology, people working with GI need to acquire adequate skills
and competences enabling them to move to an innovative approach. Addressing
skills shortages through retraining and further educating skilled personnel is essential
for ensuring that there is an adequately trained workforce in the medium term.

At EU level, Horizon 2020 and the European
Regional Development Fund are potential sources of support for research on and
innovation in GI.

Providing financial support for GI
projects

Integrating GI into policy implementation in
key sectors would ensure the support of the associated funding mechanisms for encouraging
GI deployment across the EU. The private sector also has a role to play in
investing in GI. However, GI projects are complex and inevitably risky, in
particular in the early stages of development. The EU must reduce risk through
financial instruments (such as risk-sharing practices) and multi-partner deals
involving public and private funds. Potential investors (municipality, region,
private developers) also need technical assistance to develop GI projects[41]. The Commission and the EIB
are looking at a number of options to establish a financing facility to support
biodiversity-related investments, including GI projects.

EU-level GI projects

Many geographical features such as mountain
ranges (the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians), river basins (the Rhine, the Danube) and forests (the Fennoscandinavian Forests) go beyond national boundaries and are
part of the EU’s shared natural and cultural heritage and identity. They
require coordinated, joined-up actions and a pan-European vision. To date,
large-scale infrastructure initiatives have been devoted to transport, energy
and ICT[42].
Developing an equivalent instrument, the trans-European priority axes for GI in
Europe, TEN-G (based on trans-European networks in grey infrastructure sectors),
would have significant benefits for securing the resilience and vitality of
some of Europe’s most iconic ecosystems, with consequential social and economic
benefits. Such initiatives would also act as flagship initiatives that could
serve as examples at national, regional and local levels and boost the
importance of the development of trans-European GI in policy, planning and
financing decisions. Member States and regions are encouraged to seize the
opportunities for developing GI in a cross-border/transnational context through
the macro-regional strategies supported by the ERDF[43] and through European territorial
cooperation programs[44].

Box 7: EU-level GI
projects. The European Green Belt initiative is an
ecological network running from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. Its aim is to
better harmonise human activities with the natural environment and increase
opportunities for the socio-economic development of local communities. It
connects national parks, nature parks, biosphere reserves, trans-boundary
protected areas and non-protected areas along or across borders. It supports
regional development initiatives based on nature conservation. It takes one of
the most divisive barriers in human history (the iron curtain) and transforms
it into a symbol for reconciliation and cross-border cooperation by conserving and
protecting some of Europe’s most impressive and fragile landscapes.

4.           The EU Strategy for Promoting Green
Infrastructure

The Commission is committed to developing
an EU GI Strategy that helps to conserve and enhance our natural capital and to
achieve the Europe 2020 objectives. Based on the considerations set out above about
the potential benefits of GI and the role the EU can play in its development, it
thinks that the strategy should take the form of an enabling framework
providing a combination of policy signals and technical or scientific actions.
At this stage, it thinks that the strategy can be implemented within the
context of existing legislation, policy instruments and funding mechanisms. It
would contain the elements set out below.

Promoting GI in the main policy areas

Regional or cohesion, climate change and
environmental policies, disaster risk management, health and consumer policies
and the Common Agricultural Policy, including their associated funding
mechanisms, will be the main policy areas through which Green Infrastructure will
be promoted. By the end of 2013, the Commission will develop technical guidance
setting out how Green Infrastructure will be integrated into the implementation
of these policies from 2014 to 2020. Within the context of these main policy
areas, it will take steps to increase awareness of GI among key stakeholder
groups and to promote best practice, including developing a dedicated IT
platform for exchanging information.

It will also consider how GI-related
innovation can be financed through a number of other EU instruments such as the
Connecting Europe Facility. In the TEN-T policy, for example, Green
Infrastructure as an integral part of projects may be promoted within the
framework of the proposed corridor approach.

Improving information, strengthening the
knowledge base and promoting innovation

In addition to continuing the mapping and
assessment work in the context of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, by 2015 the
Commission will review the extent and quality of the technical and spatial data
available for decision-makers in relation to GI deployment. The review will
also look at how the current arrangements governing the generation, analysis
and dissemination of this information could be improved, in particular through
better use of information-sharing facilities.

By 2013, the Commission will assess the
need and the opportunities in the context of Horizon 2020 to methodologically support
the ongoing mapping and assessment work, improve the knowledge base and develop
and encourage innovative technologies and approaches to facilitating the
development of GI. It will also assess the contribution technical standards,
particularly in relation to physical building blocks and procedures, could make
to ‘growing the market’ for GI-friendly products.

Improving access to finance

The Commission will continue to explore the
opportunities for setting up innovative financing mechanisms to support GI. Together
with the EIB, it undertakes to set up an EU financing facility by 2014 to
support people seeking to develop GI projects.

EU-level GI projects

By the end of 2015, the Commission will carry
out a study to assess the opportunities for developing an EU TEN-G initiative. It
will include an assessment of the costs and the economic, social and
environmental benefits of such an initiative.

5.           Conclusions

Green Infrastructure can contribute
significantly to achieving many of the EU’s key policy objectives. The best way
for the EU to promote the development of GI is to create an enabling framework
to encourage and facilitate GI projects within existing legal, policy and
financial instruments. Member States are encouraged to build on these
opportunities in order to boost the implementation of GI and exploit its
benefits for sustainable development. This document explains the rationale for
promoting GI and describes the features of the future EU strategy. By the end of
2017, the Commission will review progress on developing GI and publish a report
on the lessons learnt together with recommendations for future action.

[1]               COM(2012) 710 final, Proposal for a Decision of the
European Parliament and of the Council on a General Union Environment Action
Programme to 2020 ‘Living well, within the limits of our planet’.

[2]               COM(2011) 571 final, OJ C 37 of 10.2.2012.

[3]               COM(2010) 2020 final, OJ C 88 of 19.3.2011.

[4]               COM(2011) 244 final, OJ C 264 of 8.9.2011.

[5]               In its conclusions regarding the EU Biodiversity
Strategy, the Environment Council (06/11) ‘underscores the importance of
Green Infrastructure also as a contribution to further integrating biodiversity
considerations into other EU policies; and welcomes the Commission’s commitment
to develop a Green Infrastructure Strategy by 2012’. The European
Parliament (05/12) ‘urges the Commission to adopt a specific Green
Infrastructure Strategy by 2012 at the latest, with biodiversity protection as
a primary objective’.

[6]               More detailed technical information about Green
Infrastructure can be found in a Commission Services Working Document adopted
at the same time as this communication SWD(2013) 155 final.

[7]               Green Infrastructure and territorial cohesion.
European Environment Agency (2011). Technical Report No 18/2011. See also http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/docs/Green_Infrastructure.pdf

[8]               Nellemann, C., Corcoran, E. (eds) 2010. Dead Planet,
Living Planet — Biodiversity and ecosystem restoration for sustainable
development. A rapid response Assessment. UNEP, GRID-Arendal.

[9]               COM(2011) 612 final/2.

[10]             COM(2011) 614 final.

[11]             COM(2011) 17 final, Regional Policy contributing to
sustainable growth in Europe 2020. Commission Staff Working Document, SEC(2011)
92 final.

[12]             Connecting smart and sustainable growth through smart
specialisation. European Commission, 2012.

[13]             Territorial Agenda of the European Union 2020. Towards
an inclusive, smart and sustainable Europe of diverse Regions. Informal
ministerial meeting of ministers responsible for spatial planning and
territorial development. 19 May 2011, Hungary.

[14]             Communication from the Commission to the Council and
the European Parliament on a Thematic Strategy for the urban environment.
COM(2005) 718 final.

[15]             Reports, studies and review documents supported by the
European Commission —http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/studies.htm.

[16]             See case examples of GI creating jobs in Table 2 of
Commission Services Working Document (SWD(2013) 155 final).

[17]             SWD(2012) 101 final/2, p. 13.

[18]             COM(2013) 216 final, EU Strategy on Adaptation to
Climate Change.

[19]             Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry.

[20]             OJ L 1, 4.1.2003, p. 65.

[21]             Communication from the Commission to the European
Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions, A Community approach to the prevention of natural and
man-made disasters, COM(2009) 82 final.

[22]             COM(2012) 710 final.

[23]             European Environment Agency, State of the Environment
Report 2010. http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer.

[24]             The implementation of the soil thematic strategy and
ongoing activities. Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the
Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions. COM(2012) 46 final.

[25]             COM(2011) 625 final/2.

[26]             A blueprint to safeguard Europe’s water resources. Communication
from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM(2012) 673
final.

[27]             The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).
Examples of Vienna, New York, Philadelphia, Vittel, http://www.teebweb.org/.

[28]             OJ L 330, 5.12.98, p. 32.

[29]             OJ L 372, 27.12.2006, p. 19.

[30]             Integrated Constructed Wetlands (ICW), an example of
GI, can help achieve EU policy objectives for treating waste water and
protecting bathing water.

[31]             COM(2013) 133 final.

[32]             http://www.thebluecarbonproject.com/the-problem-2/.

[33]             OJ L 206, 22.7.92, p. 7.

[34]             OJ L 103, 25.4.79, p. 1.

[35]             http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/financing/index_en.htm.

[36]             http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/docs/adaptation_fragmentation_guidelines.pdf.

[37]             http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/studies.htm#design.

[38]             Methodological work on mapping and assessing ecosystems
and their services is done through action 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy. Such
information must however be adapted to GI considerations (see examples on http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/index_en.htm).
In the context of climate change policy, the EU recently passed legislation
harmonising greenhouse gas accounting in the LULUCF sector and setting out a
roadmap for improving and extending Member States’ accounting systems. This
will ensure that consistent, EU-wide data on the greenhouse gas performance of
(managed) ecosystems is available: Decision of the European Parliament and of
the Council on accounting rules on greenhouse gas emissions and removals
resulting from activities relating to land use, land-use change and forestry
and on information concerning actions relating to those activities.

[39]             COM(2012) 60 final.

[40]             Connecting smart and sustainable growth through smart
specialisation. European Commission, 2012.

[41]             http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/biodiversity/pdf/BD_Finance_summary-300312.pdf.

[42]             COM(2011) 676 final, COM(2011) 665 final.

[43]             Baltic Sea Strategy and Danube Strategy.

[44]             http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperate/cooperation/index_en.cfm.