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The European environment – state and outlook 2010: Synthesis
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The SOER 2010 Synthesis provides an overview of the European environment's state, trends and prospects, integrating the main findings of SOER 2010.
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010
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Synthesis
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Key message 1 — SOER synthesis
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Continuing depletion of Europe's stocks of natural capital
and flows of ecosystem services will ultimately undermine
Europe's economy and erode social cohesion. Most of the negative
changes are driven by growing use of natural resources to satisfy
production and consumption patterns. The result is a significant
environmental footprint in Europe and elsewhere.
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010: Synthesis
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Key messages
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Key message 7 — SOER synthesis
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The notion of dedicated management of natural capital and
ecosystem services is a compelling integrating concept for dealing
with environmental pressures from multiple sectors. Spatial
planning, resource accounting and coherence among sectoral policies implemented at all scales can help balance the need to
preserve natural capital and use it to fuel the economy. A more
integrated approach of this sort would also provide a framework
for measuring progress more broadly and underpin coherent
analyses across multiple policy targets.
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010: Synthesis
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Key messages
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Understanding climate change — SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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Average global air and ocean temperatures are rising, leading to the melting of snow and ice
and rising global mean sea level. Ocean acidification results from higher CO2 concentrations.
With unabated greenhouse gas emissions, climate change could lead to an increasing risk of
irreversible shifts in the climate system with potentially serious consequences. Temperature
rises of more than 1.5–2 °C above pre-industrial levels are likely to cause major societal and
environmental disruptions in many regions. The atmospheric CO2 concentration needs to be
stabilised at 350–400 parts per million (ppm) in order to have a 50 % chance of limiting global
mean temperature increase to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels (according to the IPCC in 2007,
and confirmed by later scientific insights).
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Thematic assessments
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Biodiversity — SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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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.
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Thematic assessments
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Marine and coastal environment — SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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European marine regions include the north-east Atlantic and Arctic oceans, and the
Mediterranean, Black and Baltic seas. Human activities — such as fishing, aquaculture and
agriculture — and climate change cause large and severe impacts on Europe's coastal and marine
ecosystems. The EU objective of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met in either the
coastal or the marine environment. Recognising the need for an integrated ecosystem-based
approach to reduce pressures, the EU Integrated Maritime Policy allows for the development
of sea-related activities in a sustainable manner. Its environmental pillar, the Marine Strategy
Framework Directive, aims to deliver 'good environmental status' of the marine environment
by 2020, and the Common Fisheries Policy will be reformed in 2012 with the aim of achieving
sustainable fisheries. Complementary policy efforts include the EU Water Framework Directive and
other freshwater legislation, and the Habitats and Birds Directives.
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Thematic assessments
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Adapting to climate change — key message 2
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A temperature rise of 2 °C or more above pre-industrial levels is likely to cause major societal, economic and environmental disruption, making it challenging for human and natural systems to adapt at affordable costs. Climate change will affect the vulnerability of European society to an array of threats to human health, almost all economic sectors, ecosystem goods and services and biodiversity.
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Adapting to climate change - SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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Key messages
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Biodiversity — key message 1
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Biodiversity and the ecosystem services upon which we all depend are inextricably linked. Both are under pressure from humanity's ever-increasing use of natural resources. Europe's high resource consumption results in an ecological footprint that impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services on the continent and elsewhere in the world.
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Biodiversity — SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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Key messages
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Land use — key message 6
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The understanding of the relationship between land use and environmental impacts must be improved. There is a need to assess inherent trade-offs and feed-backs between land use and ecosystem services, including indirect land use effects (Europe’s external footprint) and climate change.
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Land use — SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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Key messages
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Soil — key message 1
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Soil is a largely non-renewable natural resource that underpins a range of vital ecosystem services. Soil organisms play a key role in soil processes, such as bio-geochemical cycles, organic matter decomposition, and nitrogen transformation. Maintaining soil biodiversity is therefore a key concern.
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The European environment – state and outlook 2010
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Soil — SOER 2010 thematic assessment
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Key messages
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