EEA data, indicators, assessments and projections focus on climate change mitigation (greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends, projections, policies and measures), and on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation actions in Europe. The EEA hosts the European climate change data centre.
The EEA works closely with:
- the European Commission (in particular the Directorate-General for Climate Action, Joint Research Centre, Eurostat)
- experts from its European Topic Centres:
- on Air and Climate Change Mitigation (ETC/ACM);
- on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation (ETC/CCA);
- European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet).
Mitigation
Key activities and products for GHG-emission limitation and reduction include:
- the annual European Union GHG inventory (compilation and publication);
- progress assessment of European countries towards their Kyoto and 2020 targets;
- climate air interactions analysis — information and assessments on synergies and trade-offs between policies in relation to air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions and their impacts on atmospheric composition and other environmental media;
- support to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on methodological issues and reviews related to GHG inventories;
- maintaining and updating EEA data viewers as part of the European climate change data centre - detailed data and information on annual GHG emissions, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and mitigation policies and measures in European countries;
- regular updates of indicators on GHG emissions trends and projections, as part of the EEA core set of indicators.
Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change
Key activities and products include:
- user needs analyses for Copernicus (the European Earth Observation Programme) planned climate change services;
- climate change state, impact and vulnerability indicators and information on costs of impacts of and adaptation to climate change;
- analyses of national and sectoral climate change adaptation issues, including overviews of transnational, national and urban adaptation strategies and actions;
- analyses of natural hazards trends, and linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation;
- analyses of vulnerability and/or adaptation of specific regions to climate change (e.g. how the Alps handle the challenge of changing water resources);
- maintaining and managing the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT) from March 2012 onwards.
Outlook
The EEA supports the development of long-term strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, through:
- forward-looking assessments for the 2020 to 2050 horizon, e.g. analyses of long-term GHG emissions, climate change impacts and adaptation options;
- integrated assessments, in particular the State and Outlook reports on the European environment published every five years, and assessments of pan-European environment.
Related links
European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation
European Topic Centre on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation
European Environment Information and Observation Network
European Commission
European Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action
Joint Research Centre
Eurostat
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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