Eionet NRC Soil meeting – EEA, Copenhagen, 15 October 2015

EEA technical report (forthcoming)

‘Soil resource efficiency in urbanised areas Analytical framework and implications for governance’

Geertrui Louwagie

Natural systems and sustainability programme, Land systems group

Soil within the land system

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Source: EEA, 2015, The European Environment: State & Outlook 2015 (SOER 2015), European briefing ‘Land systems’.

Asset- and place-based governance

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Source: EEA, 2015, The European Environment: State & Outlook 2015 (SOER 2015), European briefing ‘Land systems’.

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Natural capital and ecosystems

Frame for soil valuation & governance

• Urbanised: core urban and peri-urban (transition)

• Soil is a finite and non-renewable resource

•

‘Urbanised areas’

© Geertrui Louwagie

Ecological soil valuation in urbanised areas

• (Peri-)urban: new context for soil formation & development

• Soil information in core urban areas missing or fragmented

• Knowledge base for ecological soil valuation (quantity and quality) absent

Source: Soil Map of Belgium – Scale 1:20000.

Monetary soil valuation in urbanised areas

• The ‘essentialness’ of soils (marginal value)

• Cost-benefit analysis – methodological limitations

• Project-level/site-specific versus regional-level valuation

• Limited evidence in urbanised areas (knowledge base)

Relative importance of soils

Land use

Conservation Agriculture Urban

Goods & services

Provisioning Low High Low (biomass)

– High (carrier)

Regulating &

supporting

High Moderate-High Low-High

Cultural High Moderate Moderate-High

Soil valuation – Implications for governance

• Soil protection instruments – public and private

• Mix of policy instruments recommended

Intervention Public/government Private

Instrument Regulatory Economic Awareness-raising

Price-based Market-based

Process to control external impacts Participation

Government enforces environmental law; command-and-control approach; Mandatory

Government provides incentives for

behavioural changes by modifying existing markets;

Voluntary

Government provides incentives for

behavioural changes by creating new markets;

Voluntary

Government raises awareness by

providing grants and credits (investment support) Voluntary

Private, self-motivated change of behaviour Voluntary

Examples Soil protection legislation

Subsidies; fiscal intervention (tax on use)

Tradable development rights; eco-labelling

Outreach and education; innovation

Adoption of sustainable soil management practices

Converting broad policy options into action

• Additional scope for recognition of soil in governance– Urban soil function maps as basis for integration in spatial

planning

– Green infrastructure: an appropriate intervention framework

– From linear to circular economy: soil as a resource versus soil as waste

– ...

© Geertrui Louwagie

Thank you

geertrui.louwagie@eea.europa.eu