the european environment state and outlook 2010 thomas henrichs european environment agency
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THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTSTATE AND OUTLOOK 2010
Thomas Henrichs European Environment Agency
The European Environment Agency:
- is established by EEC regulation
- is an independent information provider
- is an analyst and assessor
- is building bridges between science and policy
- is dependent upon strong networks to carry out its work
… to support policy processes and inform the
public
About the European Environment Agency
What is SOER 2010?
Thematic assessments
Understanding climate change
Air pollution
Biodiversity
Water resources: quantity & flows
Soil
Freshwater quality
Consumption and environment
Material resources and waste
Land use
Mitigating climate change
Adapting to climate change
Marine and coastal environment Assessment of global megatrends
Political megatrends
Country assessments
Urban environment
Environmental megatrends
Each EEA member country (32) and EEA cooperating country (6) assessed all six environmental themes above.
Climate change mitigation
Nature protection & biodiversity
National and regional stories
Freshwater
Air pollution
Land use
Country profiles
Common environmental themes
Waste
Economic megatrends
Technological megatrends
Social megatrends
Soil
Land use
Marine and coastal environment
Soil
Land use
* Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99
Country assessments
Each EEA member country (32) and EEA cooperating country (6) assessed all six environmental themes above.
Climate change mitigation
Nature protection & biodiversity
National and regional stories
Freshwater
Air pollution
Land use
Country profiles
Common environmental themes
Waste
SOER 2010:geographical coverage
‘It appears that […] progress in reducing pressures
on the state of the environment has remained
largely insufficient – in spite of positive trends in
some areas’ – SOER 1999
‘Over the past 30 years, much has been
done to improve Europe's environment.
But major challenges remain for the
future.’ – SOER 2005
SOER 2010 stresses a familiar message: there has been progress, but not enough
‘Environmental policy has delivered substantial
improvements […] however, major environmental challenges
remain which will have significant consequences […] if left
unaddressed. ’ – SOER 2010
Thematic assessments
Understanding climate change
Air pollution
Biodiversity
Water resources: quantity & flows
Soil
Freshwater quality
Consumption and environment
Material resources and waste
Land use
Mitigating climate change
Adapting to climate change
Marine and coastal environment
Urban environment
Soil
Land use
Marine and coastal environment
Soil
Land use
SOER 2010:thematic coverage
Nature & biodiversity
Natural resources & wastes
Environment, health & quality of life
Climate change
The 13 thematic assessments
can
be clustered into four groups, in
accordance with the EU’s 6th
EAP
(Environment Action
Programme).
Climate change
Climate change
• In 2009, EU-27 greenhouse gas emissions were 17.3 % below the 1990 level
• World greenhouse gas emission cuts are not enough tostop average global temperatures rising by more than 2°C
• The decade 2000–2009 was the warmest on record; the temperature in Europe has risen more than the global average
• Global temperatures are expected to increase this century by at least 0.6°C due to past emissions
Climate change
Nature and biodiversity
Nature and biodiversity
• The Natura 2000 network now covers 18 % of EU territory;knowledge about the status of biodiversity has greatly improved
• The rate of biodiversity loss is decreasing in Europe, but the EU will fail to meet its target of halting the loss by 2010
• 52 % of target species under the Habitats Directive have an unfavourable status and the status of 31 % is unknown
• More than 10 000 non-native species are present in Europe and 10–15 % have negative economic or ecological effects
Nature and biodiversity
Natural resources and waste
Natural resources and waste
• There has been partial decoupling of both resource use and waste generation from economic growth in recent years
• Recycling of municipal waste in the EU-27 avoided some
47 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions in 2008
• EU-12 resource use increased by 34 % in the period2000–2007
• More than 20 % of resources used in Europe are imported, notably fuels and mining products
Natural resources and waste
Environment, health and quality of life
Environment, health and quality of life
• Europe has significantly cut emissions of key air pollutants, greatly reducing exposure to sulphur dioxide and lead
• In the EEA-32, the area of sensitive ecosystems exposed to excess acidification from air pollution fell by 80 % in 1990–2010
• Fine particle pollution (PM2.5) is estimated to cause some
5 million lost years of life annually in the EEA-32 countries • Agriculture contributes 50–80 % of the nitrogen load in
Europe’s freshwater, leading to poorer water quality
Environment, health and quality of life
Links between environmental challenges
Links between environmental challenges
These links highlight that how and where we use natural capital and ecosystem services matters.
Global megatrends bring addi-tional risks and uncertainties -- many outside Europe’s control
Links between environmental challenges
Future environmental priorities: some reflections
• Better implementation and further strengthening of current environmental priorities
• Coherent integration of environmental consideration across the many sectoral policy domains
• Dedicated management of natural capital and ecosystem services (and increasing resource efficiency and resilience)
• Transformation to a green economy that addresses the long-term viability of natural capital within Europe and beyond
Future environmental priorities: some reflections
Thank you