What is UEPG?

UNION EUROPÉENNE DES PRODUCTEURS DE GRANULATS
EUROPÄISCHER GESTEINSVERBAND
EUROPEAN AGGREGATES ASSOCIATION
Biodiversity and the Extractive Industry
Luonnon monimuotoisuus ja
kaivannaisteollisuus
European Context
Miette Dechelle
UEPG Public Affairs Manager
UEPG in a Nutshell
What is UEPG?
UEPG
stands
for
“Union
Européenne
des Producteurs de
Granulats”
(European Aggregates
Association).
Since 1987, UEPG has
strongly promoted
the interests of the
European Aggregates
Industry by
representing mainly its
National Member
Associations on
economic, technical,
environmental and
health & safety
policy.
1. European Initiatives and legislation
2. What are the impacts on the Aggregates
Industry?
3. Solutions offered by UEPG
European Initiatives and legislation
1979
Birds
Directive
1992
Habitats
Directive
2006
2010
COM
Halting the
Fiona and Flora
loss of
Biodiversity
by 2010 and beyond
COM
Options for
an EU
vision and
target for
biodiversity
beyond
2010
2011
COM
Our life
insurance,
our natural
capital: an
EU
biodiversity
strategy to
2020
2015
Mid-Term
Review of
the EU
Biodiversity
Strategy
to 2020
EU Biodiversity Action Plan
The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020
Natura 2000
Green Infrastructure
No Net Loss
Ecosystems & their services
Invasive Alien Species
Business@Biodiversity Platform
• EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020 - Tools:
 Mechanism of cooperation between Industry, national and
global initiatives
 Dialogue
 Deliver on the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020
• Phase II
 Natural Capital Accounting
 Innovation for Biodiversity and Business
 Access to Finance and Innovative Financing Mechanisms
 Conference 27 October - Brussels
The Fitness Check
 Part of Commission REFIT programme
 A comprehensive policy evaluation to assess whether EU
nature legislation is “fit for purpose”
 Focus on Birds & Habitats Directives
 25 Key questions to be addressed
 Preliminary statistics on participation: 552,470 replies
(Individuals> Industry> NGOs)
 Conference on the Fitness Check of EU Nature Legislation,
20 November 2015
What are the impacts on the
Aggregates Industry?
 Image of the Industry
 Fragmentation of the legislation
 Access to ressources
 Weight of the administrative procedure
 Delay in the obtention of permits
 Permits shortened
No Net Loss (NNL)
 Need to encompass all the sectors, incl. agriculture
and forestry
 Importance of the full mitigation hierarchy
 Compensation/offsetting was a dividing issue amongst
biodiversity advocators: requires complicated set of
right conditions, technically difficult to implement,
questions on subsidiarity.
 Policy tool not yet decided
Mid-Term
Review of the
EU
Biodiversity
Strategy to
2020
More Ambitious ?
Solutions offered by UEPG
UEPG Biodiversity Task Force
• TF created in 2007 – new Chair Benoit Lussis (Fediex, Belgium)
• Promotion of the compatibility between extraction and
biodiversity
• Missions:
 Dialogue with European Institutions and Stakeholders (NEEIP,
IUCN, B@B Platform , NNL, Birdlife International, …)
 Development of tools (indicators)
 Exchange of good practices: Case Studies, guidance
documents, Sustainable Development Awards
 Priority n°1 in 2015: Natura 2000 Fitness Check
Biodiversity Indicators
1. Step 1 (mandatory): 2 simple, habitat-based indicators
a. Rehabilitated areas with nature conservation
objective (ha) / total rehabilitated areas (ha)
b. Area of the temporary habitat (wanderbiotopes)
within the extraction site (ha) / area of the
extraction site (ha)
2. Step 2 (voluntary): assessing the biodiversity value of
the created habitats
Several methods for assessing the biodiversity value
of the habitats are available and well documented
among UEPG Members and could be used and
further developed.
 A guidance document was prepared.
Biodiversity Indicators Workshops
1st Biodiversity Workshop (Germanspeaking) - 14 July 2014 - Holcim
Quarry – Dotternhausen, Germany
2nd Biodiversity workshop (Frenchspeaking) - 24 February 2015 –
Lille, France
3rd Biodiversity Workshop planned Scandinavian countries: Finland –
Interested?
Biodiversity Guidances
France
Belgium
United Kingdom
Spain
Biodiversity Case Studies
More than 150 Case Studies on UEPG Website
UEPG Sustainable Development
Awards
UEPG campaigns for a sustainable industry for a sustainable Europe:
 Promoting best practices
 Going beyond what is expected
 Providing examples others can follow
 Integrating the social, economic and/or
environmental dimensions of sustainable
development into operations
Aricemex, Spain
Granulat Vicat, France
UEPG Biodiversity Awards 2013
Lafarge Racos, Romania
Aarekies, Switzerland
UEPG 2013 SDA Ceremony
19 Awards and 32 Certificates
UEPG 2013 SDA Exhibition - CoR
Green Week
Green Week
“Quarries and gravel
pits can also be
high-value habitats
for biodiversity”.
Green Week
2000 participants
Thanks for your attention