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Europe's road transport needs to shift gears towards sustainability

Growing transport volumes have been driving Europe’s road transport emissions up in the past two decades. A European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis, published today, shows how total greenhouse gas emissions from both passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles have increased in Europe, despite better engine efficiency and use of biofuels.

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Emissions from road traffic and domestic heating behind breaches of EU air quality standards across Europe

Breaches of EU air quality limits for nitrogen dioxide across Europe were predominantly due to road traffic, while domestic heating lay behind the majority of exceedances for particulate matter, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment on air quality plans published today.

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Circular business models and smarter design can reduce environment and climate impacts from textiles

Textile consumption in Europe has on average the fourth highest impacts on the environment and climate, following consumption of food, housing and mobility. Ahead of the expected European Union (EU) strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published today two briefings that look at measures to reduce those impacts, including on resource use, greenhouse gas emissions and microplastic pollution.

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Europe's environmental taxes in decline, despite potentially crucial role

The European Green Deal acknowledges the crucial role of taxation in Europe’s sustainability transition. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, shows that revenues from environmental taxes can support transition investments but future revenue streams from these taxes will erode as European Union (EU) environmental and climate policy objectives are achieved. The relative share of environmental taxes to total tax revenues has also declined in the past two decades.

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Economic losses from weather and climate-related extremes in Europe reached around half a trillion euros over past 40 years

Extreme weather events like storms, heatwaves and flooding accounted for economic losses of around half a trillion euros over the past 40 years and led to between 85 000 and 145 000 human fatalities across Europe. Less than one-third of these losses were insured, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis of economic losses and fatalities from weather and climate-related events, published today.

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How green are European cities? Green space key to well-being – but access varies

High-quality green and blue spaces in cities, like parks, allotments, riverbanks and coastlines, are crucial for health and well-being, in particular for the elderly, children and people on low incomes. However, a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, shows that access is not equal.

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What lessons does Covid-19 offer for sustainability?

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted swift and forceful actions by governments and societies around the world. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing reflects on these responses and the link between the pandemic and the environment to draw lessons that could be used in making societies more sustainable.

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EU ETS emissions continued to decline during the Covid-19 pandemic

Under current and planned measures, EU Member States project that ETS emissions will continue to decrease in the coming decades albeit at a slower pace than historically, according to the latest annual European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing 'Trends and projections in the EU ETS' published today. On recent trends, greenhouse gas emissions from stationary installations recorded under the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) declined by just over 11% between 2019 and 2020.

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Clear opportunities to decouple Europe’s waste generation from economic growth

In most European countries and in the EU as a whole, waste generation is growing but at a slower pace than the economy. However, there are no signs that the overall objective of reducing the total generation of waste is close to being achieved, according to a European Environment Agency report published today. The report’s findings highlight opportunities to more effectively prevent waste, with textiles in the spotlight.

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Cities play pivotal roles in Europe's sustainability transition

Most Europeans live in cities and cities are Europe’s economic, cultural, and political hubs. Cities face environmental and climate challenges but also hold keys to realise Europe’s sustainability ambitions. Two new assessments on urban sustainability, published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today, combine several environment and climate themes, calling for better integration of policies to address the complex and interlinked challenges through win-win solutions.

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