Building a shared environmental information system with Eastern neighbours

The synthesis report 'Building a Shared Environmental Information System with the Eastern Neighbourhood: Outcome of cooperation, 2010–2014' (available in English and Russian) was developed together with the appointed representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine and financed by the ENPI-SEIS project. Since 2010, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has been engaging the countries of the Eastern Partnership in regional cooperation in order to improve national capacities for managing and sharing environmental data and information.

Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director, said: "Pollution and climate change do not respect borders, their impact is felt by all of us. The EU and its neighbours need to address such challenges jointly, through open dialogue and sustained cooperation. The exchange of environmental information and best practices is crucial for promoting good environmental governance and sustainable development."

The report provides a comprehensive overview of advancements made in all countries in building a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS). It demonstrates significant improvements in putting in place national coordination structures, mobilizing capacities to produce environmental indicators and upgrading the information systems for better reporting and easier sharing of environmental data. The work has focused on a selected list of indicators on air, climate change, water, biodiversity and waste.

Selected indictors

• Emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air
• Ambient air quality in urban areas
• Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Biochemical oxygen demand and concentration in rivers
• Nutrients in freshwater
• Protected areas
• Waste generation
  
  

So far, the use of indicators in environmental reports remains limited, and the state of the environment reports (SOERs) produced often follow a descriptive style, rather than an analytical one, according to the findings of the report. Countries are urged to strengthen the capacity of national administrations to produce regular, policy-relevant and indicator-based SOERs, in line with internationally agreed guidelines and methodologies.

A summary of key achievements in each country is also available in this flyer.