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Climate-friendly practices for sourcing raw materials hold significant potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Europe and globally. According to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, focusing on raw material extraction and processing, raw material consumers can use their purchasing power to influence suppliers to become more climate friendly. At European Union (EU) level, policy options such as including sourcing requirements in public procurement and provisions in trade agreements could help the EU cut emissions both within its territory and also contribute to global reductions.
The European Union (EU) as a whole respected emission ceilings for four key pollutants in 2019, including nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide and ammonia, according to a new European Environment Agency briefing. Nevertheless, Member States still need to make deeper cuts in emissions to achieve 2020-29 and 2030 reduction commitments, especially for nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter and ammonia.
Rapid shift to evolving renewable energy technologies poses new waste challenge for Europe
News 24 Aug 2021A rapid transition to renewable energy is necessary if Europe is to achieve its climate objectives. Developing the infrastructure to enable this change will require substantial resources and generate large volumes of waste as equipment reaches the end of its service life. Applying circular economy principles in this sector provides a win-win approach to address both these issues, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing released today.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its provisional data about the emissions of newly registered passenger cars and vans in Europe in 2020. For cars, the data show a 12 % decrease in average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, compared with 2019. Average van emissions also decreased slightly, by about 1.5 %.
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Besides providing trusted information on our environment and climate, the European Environment Agency (EEA) is working to improve its own environmental performance as an organisation. We interviewed Melanie Sporer who coordinates these efforts at the EEA, using the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).
Living in a state of multiple crises: health, nature, climate, economy, or simply systemic unsustainability?
Article 15 Jun 2021From policy corridors to academic platforms, the world has been talking about global crises: a health crisis, an economic and financial crisis, a climate crisis and a nature crisis. Ultimately, they are all symptoms of the same problem: our unsustainable production and consumption. The COVID-19 shock has only revealed the systemic frailty of our global economy and society with all their inequalities.
Achieving sustainability will require fundamental, transformative, and cross-cutting change, entailing major shifts in society’s goals, incentives, technologies, social practices and norms, as well as in knowledge systems and governance approaches.
How are Europe’s cities adapting to climate change and moving to a sustainable future?
Article 17 Mar 2021Adapting to the impacts of climate change is a top priority in the European Union. What is driving cities to implement important measures to mitigate these impacts and make urban centres more resilient and sustainable? We sat down with Ivone Pereira Martins, EEA expert in urban sustainability on what the Agency is doing to help this vital work.
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The extraction and processing of raw materials are associated with potentially significant environmental impacts, including contributing to approximately half of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. In the EU, non-energy, non-agricultural raw materials, although a small subset of all raw materials and natural resources, account for 18 % of GHG emissions associated with EU consumption. In the context of the EU's commitment to reducing its share of global GHG emissions, as well as the European Green Deal's aspiration to achieve a climate-neutral continent by 2050, mitigating climate impacts from raw material production has a central role to play in the EU's climate agenda.
European Union emission inventory report 1990-2019 under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention)
This briefing presents progress made by the EU and its 27 Member States towards reducing emissions of key air pollutants regulated under EU legislation. Specifically, it assesses progress towards meeting annual maximum emission levels set for the period 2010-2019, known as 2010 emission ceilings under the National Emission reduction Commitments (NEC) Directive. It also assesses the effort still needed by each Member State to reach the emission reduction commitments for 2020-2029 and for 2030 onwards under the NEC Directive. This briefing is based on 2019 data, the latest year for which data have been submitted.
Emerging waste streams: Opportunities and challenges of the clean-energy transition from a circular economy perspective
Publication 24 Aug 2021Renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaic panels and batteries, are essential for Europe’s transition to climate neutrality. Deployment, maintenance and replacement of this infrastructure requires significant resources, including many substances included in the EU list of critical raw materials. Waste arising from end-of-life clean energy infrastructure is projected to grow up to 30-fold over the next 10 years, presenting significant opportunities to reduce consumption of scarce raw materials by recycling metals and other valuable resources back into production systems. Circular economy approaches such as repair and upgrading of equipment and recycling up to 90% of end-of-life infrastructure can underpin the sustainability credentials of Europe’s renewable energy transition.
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Meetings with external participants continue to be held via online platforms until further notice.
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Besides providing trusted information on our environment and climate, the European Environment Agency (EEA) is working to improve its own environmental performance as an organisation. We interviewed ...
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Policies to reduce air pollution have led to improved air quality in Europe over the last three decades. However, in some European cities air pollution still poses risks to health. You can use ...
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