knowledge base for monitoring natural capital Anton Steurer, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Eurostat

Geo-spatial data to support the knowledge base for monitoring natural capital

Anton Steurer, Eurostat & Jan-Erik Petersen, EEA

What is the policy context?

• EU 7th Environmental Action Programme

– Objective 1: preserve ‘natural capital’ – Objective 5: build environmental knowledge base

• EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020:

– Action 2 Mapping and Assessment of ecosystems & their services (->MAES) – Integrate natural capital into accounting and reporting systems

• Environment Knowledge Community at EU

level to support knowledge base for 7EAP

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Abiotic assets: Solar radiation Minerals, fossil fuels,

• zone layer,

gravel, etc. Abiotic flows: Renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro..) Phosphate fertiliser, radiation protection, etc. Ecosystems as asset: Extent, structure & condition of : Forests, woodlands, rivers, lakes, oceans, coasts, wetlands, grasslands, croplands, heathlands, urban parks, etc. Ecosystem service flows:

• Provisioning

services (food, fibre, energy etc.)

• Regulation &

maintenance (of climate, river flow, pollination etc.)

• Cultural services

(recreation in nature, spiritual use of nature etc.) Ecosystem capital: G E N E R A T I N G

What is ‘natural capital':

MAES working definition

Focus of talk

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• … but ecosystems are

more than the sum of their parts.

 First consider:

 Natural and social

sciences decompose

• bjects …

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What is the challenge? I

Many different & separate & expensive data gathering exercises but not really tailored towards measuring ecosystems

LUCAS (ground

• bservation)

COPERNICUS (satellite images) Farm Structure Survey (agricultural census) Corine Land Cover Natura 2000 data Biodiversity monitoring Forest statistics Et cetera

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Water FD reporting

What is the challenge? II

• We need biophysical accounts for direct use and as

a basis for valuation studies, upscaling

• We need an EU layer of accounts as a frame for

countries and for EU policy -> we need the data foundation & the capacity to analyse these data

• We need experiments and demonstrations with

these accounts (on ecosystem capital)

• We need stepwise standards & recommendations

towards a common methodology => Knowledge innovation project on ‘natural capital’

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What is the challenge? III

Tasks identified for ‘KIP’ on natural capital: 1) Identify the required information 2) Develop a shared sampling frame and an integrated system 3) Set joint minimum data standards (e.g. on geo- referencing) 4) Establish a shared data platform 5) Integrate all available data and make sure new data fit into the system

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One of the solutions to develop:

Triangulation of data sources for tracking land use & associated natural capital

Satellite data (e.g. Copernicus HRLs) Geo-referenced statistical data An evolved LUCAS and/or other in-situ tools..

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International & EU guidance documents as framework:

• United Nations, European Commission, FAO, OECD

and World Bank (2014): System of Environmental-

Economic Accounting 2012 - Experimental Ecosystem Accounting. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/seeaRev/eea_fi nal_en.pdf

• European Commission (2013): Mapping and Assessment
• f Ecosystems and their services.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/knowledge/ecos ystem_assessment/pdf/MAESWorkingPaper2013.pdf

• CBD (2015): Ecosystem natural capital accounts – a

quick start package. http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-77-en.pdf

• And others..

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Next steps (the KIP)

• Fully map available data sets at EU level;
• Develop and implement an overall integrated information system based on a

combination of various data sets, including LUCAS-type surveys and the analysis of satellite images providing layers of geo-referenced data. The system should be modular, with generic layers.

• Promote further harmonisation and standardisation of data sets and environmental

reporting (e.g. via INSPIRE) to make data sets developed at national and EU level more complementary;

• Develop and implement a joint analytical frame (sample, data categories…) that

ensures all efforts efficiently contribute to improving the data foundation..

• Establish and maintain an analytical capacity at EU level that ensures that basic

accounts and analyses are available for the EU, allowing Member States and other stakeholders to develop plug-in applications.

• Link and integrate this project to any forthcoming digital policy of the European

Commission as well as to the European Statistical Program 2013 – 2020, with a specific focus on the data revolution and big data

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• Thank you ! ..

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