Environmental scenarios introduction

Problems like climate change, biodiversity loss and natural resource use have long-term implications which require long-term policy solutions. To make informed strategic decisions, we must try to anticipate what lies ahead and grasp ongoing, emerging and latent developments. If we want to seriously address Europe's sustainability, we have to look beyond two legislative cycles and more. However, a long view requires a broad mind: the key challenges facing Europe can change significantly with time. Environmental scenarios, outlooks and other types of forward studies help us to address discontinuity and uncertainties of future developments and to design robust policies that can withstand the test of time.