keymessage-2015-02-03-5141444383

EU-28 domestic material consumption declined by 10% between 2000 and 2012, despite a 16% increase in economic output. Environmental pressures such as waste generation and harmful emissions were also reduced. Policies have contributed to this decoupling but Europe's economic downturn since 2008 also played a role. Achieving sustained reductions in environmental pressures will require coherent policy approaches aimed at fundamentally transforming Europe's systems of production and consumption.