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A wide variety of rapid and long-term societal developments in Europe and globally have important effects on the environment in Europe. A European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, analyses these ‘drivers of change’, providing insights on their impacts on EU sustainability ambitions.
Introducing more robust monitoring and targets to spur Europe’s move to a circular economy would help improve resource efficiency, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report published today.
At least one in five Europeans are currently exposed to noise levels considered harmful to their health, according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) environmental noise pollution report published today. This number is projected to increase in the years ahead.
Europe’s many regions are expected to face worsening impacts of climate change over the next decades. A compilation of several existing maps published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today illustrates how drought, heavy rain and flooding, forest fires and sea-level rise could affect some selected regions in Europe, including Central Europe, the Iberian peninsula, Scandinavia, Brittany and Venice.
Amid a need for more accurate, up-to-date and harmonised data and monitoring on Europe’s valuable woodlands, the European Environment Agency and the European Commission today launched a new Forest Information System for Europe (FISE) which aims to become Europe’s knowledge hub to monitor the state, health and sustainability of Europe’s many forests.
Construction and demolition waste makes up just over one third of total waste generation in the EU. Despite relatively high recovery rates of used materials, Europe’s construction sector will need to be even more ambitious in its waste management practices if it is to fully embrace Europe’s circular economy. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today, circular approaches are key to increasing the quality and quantity of recycling and reuse of construction and demolition materials.
Europe will not achieve its 2030 goals without urgent action during the next 10 years to address the alarming rate of biodiversity loss, increasing impacts of climate change and the overconsumption of natural resources. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) latest ‘State of the Environment’ report published today states that Europe faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scale and urgency. The report says, however, there is reason for hope, amid increased public awareness of the need to shift to a sustainable future, technological innovations, growing community initiatives and stepped up EU action like the European Green Deal.
The European Union (EU) Member States reported more than 400 new climate change mitigation policies between 2017 and 2019, according to data released today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). EU Member States have now reported more than 1 900 climate actions, most of them targeting energy supply or energy consumption.
The European Union (EU) cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2 % in 2018, according to preliminary estimates released today by the European Environment Agency. However, rising energy consumption continues to hamper progress on the share of energy generated by renewable sources and on energy efficiency. As in previous years, the transport sector remains a particular concern with rising GHG emissions, low uptake of renewable energy sources and insufficient reductions of transport fuels’ life-cycle emissions.
Improved circular and climate-friendly business models and policies to boost reuse and recycling, plus improved consumer awareness will help the European Union tackle the growing problem posed by plastic, battery, electronic and textile waste, according to two European Environment Agency (EEA) briefings published today.
More investment is needed to make urban waste water treatment plants fit to meet the difficult challenges posed by the impacts of climate change, as well as the presence of antibiotics and other micro-pollutants in waste water, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today.
Circular material use can minimise waste and resource extraction, improve resource efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to conserving biodiversity. However, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, circular economy initiatives in Europe are still at an early stage and would benefit from more investments in upscaling promising innovations and in monitoring progress towards circularity.
Incentives to promote fuel-efficient cars have not always resulted in expected emission reductions, due to the growing gap between real-world and type approval emissions. However, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, incentives that boost the uptake of electric vehicles considerably reduce greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions.
The European Union (EU) has achieved its goals to phase out ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report shows that in 2018 the EU again destroyed or exported more ozone-depleting substances than it produced or imported.
There is growing recognition that achieving prosperity within environmental limits requires fundamental changes in core systems of production and consumption. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, identifies ten focus areas for enabling sustainability transitions.
European Union (EU) Member States have made only mixed progress in reducing emissions of the most harmful air pollutants, according to updated data published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). The data is from the annual EU emission inventory report sent to the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
A decade after its launch, the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) continues to prove its value. The online register is a widely recognised tool, used to assess pollution trends and evaluate the effectiveness of EU legislation in various areas, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment published today.
Emissions of key air pollutants from large combustion plants have significantly decreased in the European Union (EU) over past years. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment published today, the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive regulating this sector was the main reason behind these major emission cuts from 2004 to 2015. Understanding the reasons for past policy successes is essential to inform how new policies can be designed to ensure that Europe meets its health, environment and climate targets.
According to provisional data published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA), the average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new passenger cars registered in the European Union (EU) in 2018 increased for the second consecutive year, reaching 120.4 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. For the first time, the average CO2 emissions from new vans also increased. Manufacturers will have to reduce emissions of their fleet significantly to meet the upcoming 2020 and 2021 targets.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is marking its 25th anniversary today with a special meeting involving senior officials and experts from the EEA’s 39 member and cooperating countries, the European Commission, and the European Parliament. The participants will contribute to a new, 10-year strategy to steer the future work of the Agency and its network in providing sound, independent and reliable environmental information amid growing demand across Europe for more action on the environment.
For references, please go to https://eea.europa.eu./themes/policy/highlights/highlights_topic or scan the QR code.
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