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See all EU institutions and bodiesThe EEA issues press releases on key assessments and institutional developments. They are then disseminated to our subscribers and shared with journalists and the wider public. You can filter our press releases by topic through the search function. See below for our latest press releases:
Ensuring justice in Europe’s sustainability transition
05 Nov 2024
As Europe strives to lower greenhouse gas emissions and decouple economic growth from resource consumption, various social groups and regions face unequal challenges. According to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) published today, ensuring justice in sustainability transitions requires combining corrective measures to address potentially regressive social consequences of the green transition with participatory decision-making processes, and recognition of different cultures, values and capabilities.
EEA Trends and Projections: EU greenhouse gas emissions see significant drop in 2023
31 Oct 2024
Total net greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union dropped by 8% last year, marking significant progress towards climate neutrality for the EU. The huge drop was led by a significant decline in coal use and growth of renewable energy sources and supported by reduced energy consumption across Europe, according to estimated figures included in the latest European Environment Agency (EEA) ‘Trends and Projections’ report published today. The annual EEA check-up on EU progress on its energy and climate targets stresses that EU Member States will need to sustain this rate of progress to achieve Europe’s climate and energy targets.
Vote now for the EEA’s 2024 photo competition Public Choice award winner
30 Oct 2024
Cast your vote by 13 November and help us pick the winner of this year’s Public Choice Award for the 2024 ‘Urban Treasures’ European Environment Agency (EEA) photo competition. The EEA has shortlisted 41 entries out of 1300 pictures submitted from across Europe for final top prize consideration.
Biodiversity-friendly farming practices can help build sustainable, resilient agriculture
22 Oct 2024
Scaling up biodiversity-friendly farming practices can help to build sustainability and resilience in the farming sector, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today.
Pollution, over-use and climate change threaten water resilience in Europe
15 Oct 2024
Pollution, habitat degradation, impacts of climate change, and the over-use of freshwater resources are putting pressure on Europe’s lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwaters like never before. According to the largest assessment on the health of Europe’s water bodies, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA), Europe is not on track to meet its targets to improve the health of waters under EU rules. Better water management is key to improve water resilience, to alleviate pressures on water and to ensure European citizens, nature and industry have enough good-quality water.
Transport in Europe: Some signs of progress but difficult journey ahead to sustainability
10 Oct 2024
The EU is making progress towards climate neutrality but reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transport are relatively stagnant. According to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA), published today, the transport sector’s transition towards sustainability is made difficult by the increasing transport demand and sluggish growth in sustainable transport modes for moving both people and freight.
Understanding the data — what drives our material footprint?
09 Oct 2024
What is the material footprint of key European consumption sectors? While the overall material footprint — or the amount of raw materials extracted from nature in and outside of the EU to deliver goods and services — remained stable over the past decade, more measures need to be taken to reduce resource consumption in the housing and food sectors, according to a European Environment Agency analysis published today.
Renovations, sustainable building materials can boost Europe’s green transition
30 Sept 2024
Construction, use and demolition of buildings causes major environment and climate pressures but smart renovations that focus on efficient use of energy and resources can help Europe increase the sustainability of its housing sector, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report published today.
Safe and sustainable alternatives could reduce use of PFAS in textiles and enhance reuse and recycling
17 Sept 2024
Reducing the use of PFAS — known as forever chemicals — in clothing, furniture and other textile products, is important to increase recyclability and the transition to a more circular economy according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today.
World Ozone Day: EU continues to phase out gases harming the ozone layer
16 Sept 2024
Today, 16 September, is World Ozone Day to mark the Montreal Protocol to phase out environmentally harmful ozone-depleting substances (ODS). The consumption of ODS covered by the Montreal Protocol has declined in the EU and worldwide by about 99% from 1986 to 2023. The remaining 1% reflects some industrial processes, firefighting, laboratory and analytical uses where alternatives are not yet widely available.
Updated data: Uppsala has cleanest city air in Europe
29 Aug 2024
Published today, European Environment Agency’s (EEA) updated European city air quality viewer shows that people in Uppsala and Umeå, Sweden, and Faro, Portugal, can enjoy the cleanest city air in Europe. Three out of four Europeans live in urban areas and most of them are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution. Improving air quality to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) could significantly reduce premature deaths caused by air pollution.
Opportunities to secure healthy marine ecosystems and a sustainable future for European fisheries
28 Aug 2024
Europe’s regional seas are generally in poor condition which threatens the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the European fishing industry. Overfishing, bycatch and habitat degradation drive the decline of marine biodiversity in Europe’s seas, together with pressures from eutrophication, pollution and climate change. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) briefing, published today, shows that there are proven, beneficial measures that can improve the situation, if successfully implemented.
Anchoring environment, climate and sustainability as part of the EU’s strategic priorities is key to success
03 Jul 2024
How can Europe stay the course on sustainability amid shocks and crises? How do we anchor environment and climate priorities with other emerging ones like security, competitiveness and fairness without losing sight of the long-term sustainability objective of ‘living well within the limits of our planet’? A new strategic foresight report, published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today, calls for the need to further align European economic, social and security policies with the climate and environmental objectives.
Climate adaptation case studies can help boost know-how across Europe
26 Jun 2024
While European countries have made considerable progress in putting in place policies to adapt to climate change, the pace and scale of adaptation actions need to increase and widen to cover more areas like the health, agriculture, and forestry sectors. A European Environment Agency (EEA) review of the EU’s Climate-ADAPT online platform, published today, shows that sharing examples of adaptation actions can boost learning across the EU, Member States as well as regional and local authorities to help societies better prepare for climate change.
Key air pollutant emissions decline across the EU, reducing ammonia biggest challenge
25 Jun 2024
Key air pollutant emissions targeted for reductions and monitored under EU legislation continued to decline across most EU Member States according to the latest data assessment published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today. However, reducing ammonia emissions remains a problem.
More than ‘bouncing back’: leveraging transformative resilience and new governance thinking under shocks and complexity
24 Jun 2024
Global pandemic, war, inflation and other shocks and crises have tested the European Green Deal and its ambition of building a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. Published today, two new European Environment Agency (EEA) reports discuss how Europe can respond to the pressing and complex societal challenges while moving towards long-term sustainability goals.
New EEA monitoring tool reviews progress on plastics circularity in Europe
18 Jun 2024
Plastics production and consumption patterns across Europe remain unsustainable and need to be made more circular to reduce waste, pollution, climate change and other negative impacts on the environment according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today. The briefing also highlights the introduction of a new monitoring tool where people, policy makers and others can check progress on plastics circularity in Europe.
EEA launches Urban Treasures photo competition 2024: capture green in our cities!
17 Jun 2024
Calling all treasure hunters! Get your cameras ready to head into the city to capture positive and inspiring green moments that give us joy and hope for a more sustainable tomorrow. This year’s European Environment Agency (EEA) photo competition ‘Urban Treasures’, launched today, aims to celebrate through pictures the strides we are making to green and improve our urban neighbourhoods.
New data: CO2 emissions from new cars and vans further decrease as electric vehicle sales grow in Europe
10 Jun 2024
Average CO 2 emissions from all new cars registered in Europe in 2023 continued to decrease and were 1.4% lower than in 2022, according to new provisional data published today by the European Environment Agency. Similarly, average CO 2 emissions from new vans continued to fall, and were 1.6% lower than in 2022. The reductions in emissions from new cars and vans are related to the growing share of fully electric vehicles.
Europe’s air quality keeps improving but pollution levels are still unsafe in many areas
06 Jun 2024
Air quality has improved considerably in Europe over the past decades, but polluted air is still the biggest environmental health hazard in Europe and globally. According to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) analysis on air quality data for 2022 and 2023, published today, Europe’s air quality continues improving but, in many areas, especially in cities, pollution remains above recommended safe levels.
Europe’s bathing waters remain safe
28 May 2024
The vast majority of bathing water sites in Europe met the European Union's most stringent ‘excellent’ bathing quality standards in 2023, according to the latest annual bathing water assessment published today. This represents 85% of Europe’s popular bathing waters. As much as 96% of all officially identified bathing waters in the EU met the minimum quality standards, with only 1.5% rated as ‘poor'.
Most textile waste goes unsorted in Europe
21 May 2024
Starting next year, EU Member States must put separate collection systems in place for textiles . The European Environment Agency’s briefing, published today, shows that most textile waste in Europe currently ends up in mixed waste and that sorting and recycling capacity need to be urgently scaled up to ensure better and more circular use of used textiles.
Climate health risks posed by floods, droughts and water quality call for urgent action
15 May 2024
Climate change is worsening floods, droughts and is reducing water quality, posing an increasing threat to our health, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report published today . Fast-tracking implementation and better coordination of efforts by governments, water authorities and healthcare providers are urgently needed to prevent and reduce health impacts.
Reducing use and improved monitoring can help tackle antimicrobial pollution from livestock, fish farming
07 May 2024
While the use of antimicrobial drugs in farmed animals and in aquaculture has decreased over the past few years in Europe, the on-going presence of antimicrobial residues in the environment poses risks to ecosystems and human health, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today.
Cities are key to a climate-resilient Europe, stronger adaptation targets can boost progress
29 Apr 2024
Most Europeans live in urban areas and cities play a key role in protecting citizens and improving the resilience of European societies against the increasing impacts of climate change. The European Environment Agency’s report, published today, takes stock of urban adaptation in Europe, showcasing what actions cities are taking in response to increasing climate risks, and what is already working.