Publications

Technical overview of the information reported by Member States under the European Union's climate Monitoring Mechanism Regulation. The 2018 edition of the European Environment Agency (EEA) report National policies and measures on climate mitigation in Europe presents an overview of the information on 1 513 national policies and measures (PaMs) on climate change mitigation reported in 2017 by Member States under the European Union (EU)'s climate Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (MMR). It also takes stock of the progress made at national level to plan, adopt and implement new policies since the 2015 reporting exercise.

Maintaining 'natural capital', i.e. ecosystems and the services they provide, is fundamental to human economic activity and well-being. The need to conserve and enhance natural capital is therefore an explicit policy target in the EU's Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and its Seventh Environment Action Programme. Approaches to measuring the stocks of natural resources that yield benefits as natural capital have gained considerable traction in recent decades. By providing regular, objective data that are consistent with wider statistical data, natural capital accounting can provide the fundamental evidence base required for informing economic and environmental decision making that delivers on these ambitions for natural capital.

Working with nature can help prevent the worst impacts of climate change, and biodiversity and ecosystem loss. Nature-based solutions offer ways to do this. Science and policy have begun to recognise their potential. The knowledge base is expanding rapidly, with gaps identified and plans to fill them. However, challenges for implementation remain at the local level, as demonstrated by the case studies in this report.

Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe, and can cause respiratory problems and shorten lifespans. It also contributes to the acidification of soil and surface water, causes eutrophication in sensitive habitats and can damage vegetation through exposure to ozone.

Air pollution is a key environmental and social issue, the management and mitigation of which pose multiple challenges. It is the single largest environmental risk to human health in Europe, causing respiratory problems and shortening lifespans. Air pollution also affects ecosystems through, for example, the eutrophication of sensitive areas and the effect of ozone on vegetation. In addition, air pollution has negative impacts on the built environment and several atmospheric pollutants contribute to climate change (EEA, 2017).

This briefing presents progress made by the European Union (EU) and its Member States in meeting the 2010 emission ceilings that remain applicable until the end of 2019 under the Directive (EU) 2016/2284 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants (the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive). In addition, it provides an assessment of the projected emissions reported by Member States for 2020 and 2030, in relation to the 2020 and 2030 reduction commitments for each country set in the Directive.

Reporting by the Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants.

Reporting by the Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants.

Reporting by the Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

Reporting by the Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

Reporting by the Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

Reporting by Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

Reporting by Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

Reporting by Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants

A story in the "Our Natural Europe" series

A handbook for delivery of data in accordance with Directive 2002/49/EC. The report and Annex 5 have been updated to ensure that they are fully compatible with the Reportnet system for data delivery. In detail we updated the data specifications related to Major Roads and Major Railways in Annex 5 (specific changes can be found in pages 37 and 46).

Noise pollution is a growing environmental concern. It is caused by a varied number of sources and is widely present not only in the busiest urban environments, it is also pervading once natural environments. The adverse effects can be found in the well-being of exposed human populations, in the health and distribution of wildlife on the land and in the sea, in the abilities of our children to learn properly at school and in the high economic price society must pay because of noise pollution. The European soundscape is under threat and this report sets out to quantify the scale of the problem, assess what actions are being taken and to scope those that may need to be considered in the future, in order to redress the problem.

This assessment explores whether Europe has been able to reverse eutrophication trends in its regional seas. The assessment is based on publicly available monitoring data, primarily collected in the context of the Water Framework Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Regional Sea Conventions.

A story in the "Our Natural Europe" series

A story in the "Our Natural Europe" series.