WIREDGOV

The informal meeting of the Environment Ministers took place on 14 April. The meeting will bring together environment and climate ministers from the EU Member States and EFTA countries, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Mr Karmenu Vella, and the Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Mr Miguel Arias Cañete. The meeting will be chaired by the Latvian Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Mr Kaspars Gerhards.

Ministers will reflect on the challenges for achieving the goal of the EU Biodiversity strategy, namely - of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020 and stopping the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU. This discussion is essential in view of the upcoming mid-term review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and other processes related to policy review and planning. This discussion will be largely based on the results of the new State of the Environment Report (SOER2015). The report concludes that Europe's natural capital is continuing to erode.

Ministers will also focus on challenges and opportunities for integrating biodiversity in key policy areas such as agriculture, forestry and regional planning. Ministers will exchange views and share national examples regarding possible policy responses and win-win solutions in which economic growth goes hand in hand with biodiversity protection.

A session devoted to international climate change negotiations will take place at the end of the day. This aims to take stock of the progress made towards reaching a new ambitious, legally binding agreement on post-2020 climate change mitigation at the Paris Climate Change Conference in December this year.

Ministers will exchange views on the EU’s role in advancing negotiations and on possible high-level engagement in negotiations.

The informal meeting of the environment ministers is organised back-to-back with the informal meeting of energy ministers. In order to have a high-level debate on how to accommodate biodiversity preservation with increased use of renewable energy sources, a joint session of the Environment and Energy Ministers will take place on 15 April.

In order to reduce energy dependency and to mitigate climate change, the attention of the EU Member States is focused on increasing the use of domestic renewable energy sources. However, there are often direct implications on biodiversity and these trade-offs have been recognized. Preserving biodiversity and increasing the resilience of ecosystems should go hand in hand with effectively mitigating climate change, increasing the competitiveness of the economy and increasing energy security in Europe.

In view of the existing challenges, the Presidency initiates discussions on the finding how to best accommodate biodiversity conservation with increased use of renewable energy sources. The environment and energy ministers will also discuss the principle of the technological neutrality and its potential benefits for addressing both energy and environmental policies.

The afternoon session on 15 April will be for Energy Ministers only and will focus on energy efficiency issues, with particular reference to the heating and cooling sector. The Latvian Minister for Economic Affairs Mrs Dana Reizniece-Ozola will chair the meeting.

Energy efficiency is one of the five core pillars of the Energy Union, since it helps to reduce energy demand, increases the efficient use of energy resources and ensures a higher level of energy security in the EU. 

Energy ministers will discuss solutions that should be included in the European Union’s heating and cooling strategy in order to develop heating and cooling markets at local, regional and national level; what needs to be done at EU level to facilitate effective development of these markets; and how the EU’s strategy could facilitate access to public and private funding in order to reduce the energy cost for end-users and ensure their access to sustainable heating and cooling infrastructure.

The Latvian Presidency will invite EU Member States to share their views on how district heating and cooling issues are addressed in the Member States in order to maximise the benefits such as energy efficiency, social issues, modern technology, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

On 16 April, Energy Ministers will discuss regional cooperation in the energy sector. Regional cooperation is of key importance for reaching the EU’s energy policy objectives. The Energy Union Strategy also urges Member States to coordinate and cooperate with their neighbours when developing their energy policies.The Latvian Presidency therefore seeks to intensify the discussions on the potential and conditions for cooperation, and to promote the exchange of best practice.

The Presidency will encourage the ministers to identify the areas with the potential for further regional cooperation in order to improve governance of the Energy Union.