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Noise pollution can have a major impact on our lives and health.

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Using big data from Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, as well as other satellite and user data sources, Viridian Raven has developed a set of algorithms that gives a risk analysis of bark beetles in forests. This enables foresters to see which parts of their forests have a high risk of bark beetle activity and enables fieldwork to be carried out more effectively saving time and allowing for more nests to be found earlier.

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Fluorinated greenhouse gases reported under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounted for approximately 3 % of overall greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in tonnes CO 2  equivalent, in the EU in 2017. There was a 3 % decline in fluorinated greenhouse emissions in the EU in 2015, the first time a decline had been observed in 15 years. In 2016 and 2017, total fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions decreased by a further 1 % and 2 %, respectively. Increases in SF 6 were offset by decreases in HFCs and NF 3 . The supply of fluorinated greenhouse gases to the EU, measured in CO 2 equivalents, has been decreasing since 2010, with the exception of 2014, which saw extraordinarily high levels of hydrofluorocarbon imports prior to the EU-wide hydrofluorocarbon phase-down, coming into effect in 2015 under the EU F-gas Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 517/2014). The supply of unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have low global warming potential (GWP) approximately doubled each year from 2014 to 2017, replacing hydrofluorocarbons that have high global warming potential. However, trends in the use of non-halogenated refrigerants, which can also substitute hydrofluorocarbons, are not covered by statistics. The EU is on track to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons, in terms of both complying with its internal targets under the EU F-Gas Regulation since 2015,  and reaching the hydrofluorocarbon consumption limit, in effect since 2019, under the Montreal Protocol.

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The Effort Sharing Decision (ESD) No 406/2009/EC establishes annual greenhouse gas emission targets for Member States for the period 2013–2020. These targets concern emissions from most sectors not included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), such as transport, buildings, agriculture and waste. Emissions from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) and international shipping are not included. Every year, the EEA coordinates the ESD review of Member States’ greenhouse gas inventories, so that the European Commission can determine compliance with the annual ESD targets on the basis of accurate, reliable and verified emission data. Review reports and final ESD emissions are published by the European Commission. ESD emissions for the period 2005–2012 and for the latest year ("Y-1") are estimated by EEA on the basis of national GHG inventory data and ETS emissions.

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The Monitoring Mechanism Regulation ((EC) No 525/2013) requires Member States to report national projections of anthropogenic GHG emissions. Every two years, each EU Member State shall report GHG projections in a ‘with existing measures’ scenario for the years 2020, 2025, 2030 and 2035, by gas (or group of gases) and by sector. National projections shall take into consideration any policies and measures adopted at Union level. The reported data are quality checked by the EEA and its European Topic Centre for Climate Change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME).

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There are 3 664 large combustion plants in the EU-28. Installed capacity increased by 4 % overall between 2004 and 2017. The trend reached a maximum in 2012. The use of biomass, tripled from 2004 to 2017, although it was still used in relatively low amounts (6 % of the total in 2017). Solid fuels (coal, lignite, peat and other solid fossil fuels) and natural gas remain the main sources of fuel input but the amount used decreased by around 25 % in the period. This could  reflect the shift in Europe’s energy system from oil, coal and gas to renewable sources.  The installed capacity of large combustion plants is not equally distributed across Europe: Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and France ( in order of rank ), accounted for more than 65 % of total fuel input and operating capacity in 2017.

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The maps show eight contaminants distributed in four regional seas (no data available for the Black Sea). In each map the locations where the contaminant was measured are coloured to indicate which class was registered; green (low concentration), yellow (moderate concentration) or red (high concentration). The pie charts cover the North Atlantic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, showing the percentage of each class of the regional seas. Any regional trend for a particular class is indicated by black arrows.

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This figure shows the 2017 landings of commercially exploited fish and shellfish per EU marine region (although for the Mediterranean and Black seas data refers to 2016), and the proportions of landings for which stock assessments were conducted in 2016-2018 (not all stocks have annual assessments). See the related Excel File for extra details. A distinction is made between (1) the landings for assessed stocks for which adequate information is available to determine GES for F and SSB, (2) the landings for assessed stocks for which insufficient information is available to determine GES for F or SSB, and (3) the assessed stocks for which the available information on both F and SSB is insufficient to determine GES. For further information, see the Methodology section on how this distinction is made and European Commission Decision No 2017/848/EU on criteria and methodological standards on GES of marine waters.

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The map reflects the most recent available information at the EU-level on implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in EU 28 plus Iceland based on data reported by the Member States (for reference year 2016) in 2018.

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The WISE Water Framework Directive map contains information from the 2nd River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) reported by EU Members States and Norway according to article 13 of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The maps include the River Basin Districts (RBDs) and their sub-units, the surface water bodies (water body category, ecological status or potential and chemical status), the groundwater bodies (aquifer type, quantitative status and chemical status) and the monitoring sites.

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Total ecological footprint is represented by the colored areas (as the product of per person footprint and population size); total biocapacity is represented by the areas within red lines. As of 2014, the EU-28 had approximately 500 million citizens, and a biocapacity of 2.2 global hectares per capita.

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This table shows which EEA member countries have national adaptation strategies and national adaptation plans in place.

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Fluorinated greenhouse gases reported under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounted for approximately 3 % of overall greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in tonnes CO 2  equivalent, in the EU in 2017. There was a 3 % decline in fluorinated greenhouse emissions in the EU in 2015, the first time a decline had been observed in 15 years. In 2016 and 2017, total fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions decreased by a further 1 % and 2 %, respectively. Increases in SF 6 were offset by decreases in HFCs and NF 3 . The supply of fluorinated greenhouse gases to the EU, measured in CO 2 equivalents, has been decreasing since 2010, with the exception of 2014, which saw extraordinarily high levels of hydrofluorocarbon imports prior to the EU-wide hydrofluorocarbon phase-down, coming into effect in 2015 under the EU F-gas Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 517/2014). The supply of unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have low global warming potential (GWP) approximately doubled each year from 2014 to 2017, replacing hydrofluorocarbons that have high global warming potential. However, trends in the use of non-halogenated refrigerants, which can also substitute hydrofluorocarbons, are not covered by statistics. The EU is on track to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons, in terms of both complying with its internal targets under the EU F-Gas Regulation since 2015,  and reaching the hydrofluorocarbon consumption limit, in effect since 2019, under the Montreal Protocol.

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The European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS) governs about 40 % of total EU greenhouse gas emissions. It sets a cap on emissions from industrial activities (e.g. power and heat production, cement production, iron and steel production and oil refining), as well as aviation. Based on the latest available data, this briefing provides an overview of past and projected emission trends under the EU ETS, and of the balance between the supply of and demand for emission allowances on the EU carbon market.

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Monitoring under the Fuel Quality Directive in 2017 (2018 reporting)

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The European Union (EU) cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2 % in 2018, according to preliminary estimates released today by the European Environment Agency. However, rising energy consumption continues to hamper progress on the share of energy generated by renewable sources and on energy efficiency. As in previous years, the transport sector remains a particular concern with rising GHG emissions, low uptake of renewable energy sources and insufficient reductions of transport fuels’ life-cycle emissions.

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The Effort Sharing Decision (ESD) No 406/2009/EC establishes annual greenhouse gas emission targets for Member States for the period 2013–2020. These targets concern emissions from most sectors not included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), such as transport, buildings, agriculture and waste. Emissions from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) and international shipping are not included. Every year, the EEA coordinates the ESD review of Member States’ greenhouse gas inventories, so that the European Commission can determine compliance with the annual ESD targets on the basis of accurate, reliable and verified emission data. Review reports and final ESD emissions are published by the European Commission. ESD emissions for the period 2005–2012 and for the latest year ("Y-1") are estimated by EEA on the basis of national GHG inventory data and ETS emissions.

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The Monitoring Mechanism Regulation ((EC) No 525/2013) requires Member States to report national projections of anthropogenic GHG emissions. Every two years, each EU Member State shall report GHG projections in a ‘with existing measures’ scenario for the years 2020, 2025, 2030 and 2035, by gas (or group of gases) and by sector. National projections shall take into consideration any policies and measures adopted at Union level. The reported data are quality checked by the EEA and its European Topic Centre for Climate Change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME).

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There are 3 664 large combustion plants in the EU-28. Installed capacity increased by 4 % overall between 2004 and 2017. The trend reached a maximum in 2012. The use of biomass, tripled from 2004 to 2017, although it was still used in relatively low amounts (6 % of the total in 2017). Solid fuels (coal, lignite, peat and other solid fossil fuels) and natural gas remain the main sources of fuel input but the amount used decreased by around 25 % in the period. This could  reflect the shift in Europe’s energy system from oil, coal and gas to renewable sources.  The installed capacity of large combustion plants is not equally distributed across Europe: Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Spain and France ( in order of rank ), accounted for more than 65 % of total fuel input and operating capacity in 2017.

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Improved circular and climate-friendly business models and policies to boost reuse and recycling, plus improved consumer awareness will help the European Union tackle the growing problem posed by plastic, battery, electronic and textile waste, according to two European Environment Agency (EEA) briefings published today.

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The maps show eight contaminants distributed in four regional seas (no data available for the Black Sea). In each map the locations where the contaminant was measured are coloured to indicate which class was registered; green (low concentration), yellow (moderate concentration) or red (high concentration). The pie charts cover the North Atlantic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, showing the percentage of each class of the regional seas. Any regional trend for a particular class is indicated by black arrows.

Read more

This figure shows the 2017 landings of commercially exploited fish and shellfish per EU marine region (although for the Mediterranean and Black seas data refers to 2016), and the proportions of landings for which stock assessments were conducted in 2016-2018 (not all stocks have annual assessments). See the related Excel File for extra details. A distinction is made between (1) the landings for assessed stocks for which adequate information is available to determine GES for F and SSB, (2) the landings for assessed stocks for which insufficient information is available to determine GES for F or SSB, and (3) the assessed stocks for which the available information on both F and SSB is insufficient to determine GES. For further information, see the Methodology section on how this distinction is made and European Commission Decision No 2017/848/EU on criteria and methodological standards on GES of marine waters.

Read more

The map reflects the most recent available information at the EU-level on implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in EU 28 plus Iceland based on data reported by the Member States (for reference year 2016) in 2018.

Read more

Noise pollution can have a major impact on our lives and health.

Read more

Using big data from Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, as well as other satellite and user data sources, Viridian Raven has developed a set of algorithms that gives a risk analysis of bark beetles in forests. This enables foresters to see which parts of their forests have a high risk of bark beetle activity and enables fieldwork to be carried out more effectively saving time and allowing for more nests to be found earlier.

Read more

Europe’s landscape is changing. Cities and their infrastructures are expanding into productive agricultural land, cutting the landscape into smaller patches, affecting wildlife and ecosystems. In addition to landscape fragmentation, soil and land face a number of other threats: contamination, erosion, compaction, sealing, degradation and even abandonment. What if we could recycle the land already taken by cities and urban infrastructure instead of taking agricultural land?

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Who owns land and its resources? Who decides how they can be used? In some cases, land is private property, which can be bought and sold, and exclusively used by its owners. Often its use is governed by national or local regulations, for example to maintain forest areas. In other cases, some areas are designated for public use only. But land is not only space or a territory. When we all use land and rely on its resources, sustainable management requires owners, regulators and users from local to global level to work together.

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The WISE Water Framework Directive map contains information from the 2nd River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) reported by EU Members States and Norway according to article 13 of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The maps include the River Basin Districts (RBDs) and their sub-units, the surface water bodies (water body category, ecological status or potential and chemical status), the groundwater bodies (aquifer type, quantitative status and chemical status) and the monitoring sites.

Read more

Total ecological footprint is represented by the colored areas (as the product of per person footprint and population size); total biocapacity is represented by the areas within red lines. As of 2014, the EU-28 had approximately 500 million citizens, and a biocapacity of 2.2 global hectares per capita.

Read more

This table shows which EEA member countries have national adaptation strategies and national adaptation plans in place.

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