How Ecosystem Services Have Found Their Way in European Policies

39 Pages Posted: 3 Feb 2025

See all articles by Marta Perez-Soba

Marta Perez-Soba

European Union - European Commission Joint Research Centre-Ispra

Joachim Maes

European Union - European Commission

Cristina Arias-Navarro

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Javier Babi Almenar

Polytechnic of Milan

José I. Barredo

European Union - Bio-Economy Unit

Bruna Grizzetti

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Alessandra La Notte

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Panos Panagos

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Sara Vallecillo

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Maria Luisa Paracchini

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Abstract

Over the past decade, ecosystem services (ESS) have found their way into European Union (EU) policies in a process that is unprecedented in the world. In 2011, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 highlighted the critical role of healthy ecosystems in providing food, pollination of crops by wild insects, clean air and water or flood control. In 2019, the European Green Deal, aimed at combating environmental degradation and promoting a sustainable resilient Europe, further reinforced this role and incorporated ESS into policies that extend beyond natural resource management. A landmark of the European Green Deal, and the EU’s long-term policy adoption process, is the entering into force of the Nature Restoration Regulation in August 2024, the first continent-wide law of its kind. Scientific advances in ecosystem science have been the primary driving force behind this EU policy pathway, though the coherent implementation of diverse policy approaches remains challenging. This paper outlines key policy and science-for-policy milestones from the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 through to the European Green Deal, along with future challenges. Specifically, it focuses on the integration of ecosystem services into EU policies concerning agriculture, forests, soil, inland and marine waters, and urban areas. The paper details how ecosystem services have been gradually incorporated into these policy themes and how the focus has evolved within each policy theme. It concludes with reflections on the next science-for-policy challenges for ecosystem services in the EU.

Keywords: Ecosystem condition, ecosystem accounts, policy instruments, science-policy interface.

Suggested Citation

Perez-Soba, Marta and Maes, Joachim and Arias-Navarro, Cristina and Babi Almenar, Javier and Barredo, José I. and Grizzetti, Bruna and La Notte, Alessandra and Panagos, Panos and Vallecillo, Sara and Paracchini, Maria Luisa, How Ecosystem Services Have Found Their Way in European Policies. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5123158 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5123158

Marta Perez-Soba (Contact Author)

European Union - European Commission Joint Research Centre-Ispra ( email )

Via Fermi
Ispra, Varese 21027
Italy

Joachim Maes

European Union - European Commission ( email )

Rue de la Loi 200
Brussels, B-1049
Belgium

Cristina Arias-Navarro

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Javier Babi Almenar

Polytechnic of Milan ( email )

José I. Barredo

European Union - Bio-Economy Unit ( email )

Via E. Fermi 2749
Ispra (VA), I-21027
Italy

Bruna Grizzetti

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Alessandra La Notte

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Panos Panagos

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Sara Vallecillo

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Maria Luisa Paracchini

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

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