Public authorities for transformative change: integration principle in public funding

Area of Science:

• Environmental policy
• Conservation science
• Ecological economics

Background:

• Growing scientific consensus emphasizes integrating biodiversity into decision-making for transformative change.
• Public authorities play a crucial role in fostering environmental transitions.
• The European Union (EU) seeks to integrate biodiversity into its green transition strategies, particularly post-pandemic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the EU's approach to integrating biodiversity considerations into decision-making.
• To analyze the rationale and implementation of the EU's "do no harm" principle as a condition for public funds.
• To identify key steps for fostering biodiversity integration in policy planning and implementation.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the EU's "do no harm" principle and its impact on biodiversity.
• Examination of policy innovations related to the green transition and post-pandemic recovery.
• Review of regulatory actions focused on climate neutrality and biodiversity goals.

Main Results:

• The EU's "do no harm" principle has had a very limited impact, primarily validating rather than initiating policy measures.
• The principle failed to significantly influence policy design for biodiversity benefits or encourage climate-biodiversity synergies.
• Current approaches show scope for improvement in fostering biodiversity integration.

Conclusions:

• Robust regulation is essential for supporting biodiversity goals within policy planning and implementation.
• Key steps for effective biodiversity integration include deliberation, target-setting, tracking, verification, and screening.
• Substantive and procedural approaches are needed to complement bottom-up initiatives for transformative change.