EEA activities

EEA data, indicators, assessments and projections focus on climate change mitigation (greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends, projections, policies and measures), and on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation actions in Europe. The EEA hosts the European climate change data centre.

The EEA works closely with:

• the European Commission (Directorate-General for Climate Action, Joint Research Centre, Eurostat)
• experts from its European Topic Centres:
• on Air and Climate Change Mitigation (ETC/ACM)
• on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation (ETC/CCA)
• European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet).

Mitigation

Key activities and products for GHG-emission limitation and reduction include:

• the European Union GHG inventory (annual compilation and publication);
• progress assessments of European countries towards their Kyoto and 2020 targets (annual);
• co-benefits analysis of climate change and air quality policies;
• support to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on methodological issues and reviews related to GHG inventories;
• maintaining and updating EEA data viewers - detailed data and information on annual GHG  emissions in European countries, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and mitigation policies and measures, as part of the European data centre on GHG emissions and climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation;
• regular updates of indicators on GHG emissions trends and projections, as part of the EEA core set of indicators.

Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change

Key activities and products include:

• user needs analyses for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and other climate change services;
• climate change state, impact and vulnerability indicators and information on costs of impacts of and adaptation to climate change;
• analyses of national and sectoral climate change adaptation issues, including overviews of countries' adaptation actions;
• analyses of natural hazards trends, and linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation;
• analyses of vulnerability and/or adaptation of specific regions to climate change (e.g. how the Alps handle the challenge of changing water resources);
• maintaining and managing the EU Clearinghouse on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation (from early 2012 onwards).

Outlook

The EEA supports the development of long-term strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, through:

• forward-looking assessments for the 2020 to 2050 horizon, e.g. analyses of long-term GHG emissions, climate change impacts and adaptation options;
• integrated assessments, in particular the State and Outlook reports on the European environment published every five years, and assessments of pan-European environment.

Related links

European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation

European Topic Centre on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation