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50 years of protecting Europe's environment: Today the European Union has the most environmentally friendly arsenal of rules in the world and has done more to tackle pressing ecological problems, such as climate change, than any other major power. But it has not always been like this. Caring for the environment did not feature in the Treaty of Rome, the document that gave birth to the modern day EU. Yet environmental problems were never far away. Europe’s love affair with the car was moving into top gear, industry was busy belching out pollutants and raw sewage was being pumped into our rivers and seas.
Located in Environmental topics › Policy instruments › Multimedia
Biodiversity — SOER 2010 thematic assessment: Biodiversity — the variety of ecosystems, species and genes — is essential to human wellbeing, delivering services that sustain our economies and societies. Its huge importance makes biodiversity loss all the more troubling. European species are threatened with extinction and overexploitation. Natural habitats continue to be lost and fragmented, and degraded by pollution and climate change. Despite actions taken and progress made, these threats continue to impact biodiversity in Europe. The new global and EU targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2020 are ambitious but achieving them will require better policy implementation, coordination across sectors, ecosystem management approaches and a wider understanding of biodiversity's value.
Located in The European environment – state and outlook 2010 › Thematic assessments
Biodiversity protection – beyond 2010: 2010 will be a major milestone for biodiversity policy both in the EU and globally. It will be the year of the full evaluation of the delivery to the EU Biodiversity Action Plan and as well the UN International Year for Biodiversity.
Located in Environmental topics › Biodiversity › Multimedia
Changing pattern of mountain flower growth: Located in Environmental topics › Biodiversity › Multimedia
Consumption and the environment - SOER 2010 thematic assessment: The consumption of goods and services in EEA member countries is a major driver of global resource use and associated environmental impacts. Growth in global trade is resulting in an increasing share of environmental pressures and impacts from European consumption taking place beyond Europe. Food and drink, housing, mobility and tourism are responsible for a large part of the pressures and impacts caused by consumption in the EU. Achieving significant reductions in environmental pressures and impacts will require changing private and public consumption patterns, to supplement gains achieved through better technology and improved production processes.
Located in The European environment – state and outlook 2010 › Thematic assessments
Consumption and the environment — 2012 update: Update to the European Environment State and Outlook 2010 (SOER 2010) thematic assessment
Located in Publications
Ecosystem accounting and the cost of biodiversity losses — the case of coastal Mediterranean wetlands: This report focuses on ways we can use land and ecosystem accounting techniques to describe and monitor the consequences of biodiversity loss in the coastal wetlands of the Mediterranean. These ecosystems are characterised by the close coupling of economic, social and ecological processes, and any accounting system has to represent how these key elements are linked and change over time. This report discusses the importance of estimating the ecological and social costs of maintaining these systems, and the problems surrounding providing monetary estimates of the services associated with wetlands. It also shows how individual wetland socio-ecological systems (SES) can be defined and mapped using the remotely sensed land cover information from Corine Land Cover.
Located in Publications
Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010: proposal for a first set of indicators to monitor progress in Europe: Located in Publications
Halting the loss of Europe's biodiversity by 2010: 42% of Europe’s native mammals are threatened with extinction, 43% of birds, 45% of butterflies, 52% of freshwater fish. The list goes on and makes terrifying reading. Worldwide, the loss of species is even more alarming.
Located in Environmental topics › Biodiversity › Multimedia
Late lessons II Chapter 20 - Invasive alien species: a growing but neglected threat: Located in Publications › Late lessons from early warnings: science, precaution, innovation › Chapters