2021 was marked by Covid-19 and climate change impacts. Faced with higher energy prices and health concerns, Europe’s recovery requires difficult decisions in 2022. Delayed action or lower ambitions are more likely to have higher social and economic costs in the long run. Addressing social inequalities in this sustainability transition is the key to a better future for us all.
The European Environment Agency cooperates with a large number of countries, including those in the Western Balkans. How does this cooperation further the EU’s work on the environment and how does it benefit Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo? We sat down with Luc Bas, head of Coordination, Networks and Strategy Programme, to discuss how the EEA is working with these countries to improve the environment.
The loss of biodiversity and natural ecosystems we are currently witnessing is just as catastrophic as climate change. In fact, the two are closely entwined, as climate change accelerates biodiversity loss and healthy ecosystems are a vital ally in the fight against climate change.
EU Member States started coordinating environmental policies in the 1970s and nature was the first area for European action. To this day, the nature directives — the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, first adopted in 1979 and 1992, respectively — constitute the cornerstone of the EU’s efforts to protect and preserve biodiversity.
Can putting a value on nature help protect it or do we need new governance models? How is trade linked to biodiversity loss and inequalities? We talked to James Vause, the lead economist at the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), who contributed to the Dasgupta review on the economics of biodiversity, especially to the chapter focused on trade and the biosphere.
Awareness of our nature has never been as high as it is today. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions many of us headed outside to our nearest green spaces for respite and solace — necessary breaks from our lockdown existence. It once again reminded us of the vital and valued role that our nature plays in our mental and physical well-being.
European nature is suffering the consequences of long-term exploitation and pollution. Nature keeps providing us with food, clothes, medicines, housing, energy and other resources, but ecosystems and many plants and animals are in decline, sometimes being pushed to extinction. What are the human activities that harm nature the most and how can we stop and reverse current biodiversity loss?
From changes in species habitats and communities to water availability and flowering seasons, climate change impacts ecosystems and biodiversity. We asked Professor Dr Beate Jessel, President of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, about the links between biodiversity and climate change and what could be done to boost nature’s resilience in a changing climate.
Europe has set ambitious policy goals to allow nature to recover and flourish, increasing the benefits to society of a healthy natural world. From protected areas and green and blue infrastructure to restoration, rewilding and using nature-based solutions to climate change, much needs to be done to reverse the deterioration in the health of nature.
Monitoring wildlife and habitats plays a key role in expert assessments. We spoke with Petr Voříšek, member of the coordination team of the European Breeding Bird Atlas 2 at the Czech Society for Ornithology, about how such information and data are put together on a European scale and what challenges bird populations face today.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) have recently published the European Maritime Transport Environmental Report (EMTER), which is a joint assessment about the environmental impacts of maritime transport in Europe. We interviewed Stéphane Isoard, Head of group for water and marine topics at the EEA, who was leading the EEA team working on the report.
From carbon neutrality to circular economy, cleaner air to cleaner transport, Europe has set ambitious environmental and climate objectives. Cities, where the large majority of Europeans live, need to play a decisive role in achieving Europe’s sustainability targets. The question is: how can cities become sustainable?
From 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.
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).
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.
Adapting 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.
A year into living with COVID-19 and its impacts, Europe continues to put forth policy packages towards its ambitious goals outlined in the European Green Deal. It is essential that Europe stays on course towards its targets and ensures that the Europe of 2050 is a resilient society built on solidarity, providing a healthy environment for all of us.
Our joint Strategy indicates our direction of travel. It introduces a new way of working together and creating knowledge — more agile, more responsive, more pro-active, more actionable — befitting the challenges we will face and the knowledge we will need in the decade to come.
Air pollution, noise pollution and the impacts of climate change are key risks to the everyday health and well-being of Europeans. We talked with Catherine Ganzleben, head of group, air pollution, environment and health, Alberto González, EEA air quality expert, and Eulalia Peris, EEA noise pollution expert to find out more on what the EEA is doing to improve knowledge in this important field of work.
Industrial pollution in Europe is decreasing, thanks to a blend of regulation, developments in manufacturing and environmental initiatives. However, industry continues to pollute and moving towards zero pollution in this sector is an ambitious challenge.
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