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Environmental information systems
EU environment and climate policies have delivered substantial benefits over recent decades, such as cleaner air and water. Nevertheless, Europe, as well as the rest of the globe, is facing environmental challenges of unprecedented scale and urgency.
Europe faces persistent problems in areas such as biodiversity loss, resource use, climate change impacts and environmental risks to health and well-being. The continent continues to consume more resources and contribute more to environmental degradation than other world regions.
Policy measures targeted at nature protection have delivered benefits in some areas, but many problems persist and some are getting worse. For example, reduced pollution has improved water quality, but only 37% of Europe’s surface water bodies achieved ‘good’ or ‘high’ ecological status, a measure of aquatic ecosystem health, under EU’s Water Framework Directive and only 29% achieved ‘good’ chemical status over the 2015-2021 period, according to data reported by EU Member States.
Land management has improved, but landscape fragmentation continues to increase, damaging habitats and biodiversity. 75% of Europe’s ecosystem area is exposed to excessive nitrogen levels, causing eutrophication. The impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems are expected to intensify, while activities such as agriculture, fisheries, transport, industry and energy production continue to cause biodiversity loss, resource extraction and harmful emissions.
Although good progress has been made towards reducing air pollution from industry, transport and households — reducing the number of deaths linked to air pollution as a result, over 10% of annual premature human deaths in the EU are related to environmental pollution. An increasing body of evidence demonstrates that citizens’ health is being adversely affected by hazardous chemicals.
The outlook for 2030 suggests that the current rate of progress will not be sufficient to meet 2030 and 2050 climate and energy targets.
Europe has made progress in relation to resource efficiency and the circular economy. Material consumption has remained relatively stable and resource efficiency improved as the gross domestic product has increased. Total EU water abstraction decreased by 19% between 2000 and 2022.
As set in the European Green Deal, Europe is committed to becoming a climate-neutral continent by 2050. Faced with the sustainability challenges above, achieving sustainability requires a complete transformation of key systems — the way we produce our food, we produce and consume goods, we move and build our cities, while boosting nature’s resilience and preparing for the impacts of climate change.
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Andrea Donghi, My City/EEA
Five yearly snapshots of Europe's environment
Every five years, we publish our flagship report: the state and outlook of Europe’s environment (SOER). The sixth SOER identified serious gaps between the state of the environment and existing EU near‑ and long‑term policy targets.
While European environment and climate policies have helped to improve the environment over recent decades, Europe is not making enough progress and the outlook for the environment in the coming decade is not positive, according to the ‘European environment — state and outlook 2020 (SOER 2020)’ report.
Pollution, over-use and climate change threaten water resilience
According to the largest assessment on the health of Europe’s water bodies, published by the EEA, Europe is not on track to meet its targets to improve the health of waters under EU rules.
Better water management is key to improve water resilience, to alleviate pressures on water and to ensure European citizens, nature and industry have enough good-quality water.
Agriculture is the most significant pressure impacting both surface and groundwaters, according to the EEA report ‘Europe's state of water 2024: the need for improved water resilience’.
This results from water use and pollution from the intensive use of nutrients and pesticides, according to Member States’ own monitoring. Agriculture is by far the highest net water consumer in Europe and, without changes in practices, demand from irrigated agriculture is likely to increase with climate change.
What does Europe do to protect its nature?
0,000
protected areas
0%
of land covered
by protected areas
0
habitats protected
under EU law
0%
of Europe's seas covered
by protected areas
nearly 0,000
species and habitats protected
under EU law
Urgent action needed to reverse soil degradation in Europe
Soil degradation threatens our competitiveness, food security, agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and resilience to extreme weather events and climate change. Joint efforts at EU, national, and local level focus on restoring soil health.
Launched at the EU Soil Observatory Stakeholder Forum, the 2024 State of Soils in Europe report assesses the state of soil degradation across the EU and other countries in the European Economic Area, including Ukraine, Türkiye, and the Western Balkans. The report shows alarming status and trends, with soil degradation getting much worse in recent years, and highlights the need for immediate action to reverse this trend.
The State of Soils in Europe report is a collaboration between the Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency.
A pollution-free Europe?
The zero pollution action plan is a cornerstone of the EU’s ambitions to improve the well-being and health of citizens and future generations under the European Green Deal. It sets out the vision that by 2050, the EU should have reduced pollution to the extent that it no longer harms human health and natural ecosystems. This is translated into key 2030 targets to reduce pollution at source. We produced our first zero pollution monitoring assessment to assess progress towards these targets.
Good progress has been made towards reducing air pollution from industry, transport and homes — reducing the number of premature deaths linked to air pollution as a result. At the same time, Europe has been maintaining and improving its bathing and drinking water quality and reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Encouraging trends are also taking place in reducing pesticide use, although the resulting positive impact on the environment is yet to be seen.
Giorgio Bocchi, Well with Nature/EEA
Dive deeper
The European environment — state and outlook 2020: knowledge for transition to a sustainable Europe (SOER 2020)
ImageSimon Hadleigh-Sparks, My City/EEA
Meeting EU environment policy targets by 2030 will be challenging
The EU 8th Environment Action Programme (EAP) builds on the European Green Deal and sets the framework for EU environmental policy until 2030.
The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) first monitoring report on the Programme shows that the EU may not meet most of the monitoring targets outlined in the European Commission’s 8th EAP Monitoring Communication.
The report takes stock of progress towards Europe’s key environment and climate goals, based on 28 indicators and monitoring targets.
According to the EEA analysis, the EU may not meet the majority of the targets by 2030. The situation looks particularly challenging when it comes to the 8th EAP priority objective of reducing environmental and climate pressures related to production and consumption. This includes targets on energy consumption, rate of circular material use, and share of area under organic farming, which all look very unlikely to be achieved by 2030.
