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Policy Document

Resource efficiency in Europe — Policies and approaches in 31 EEA member and cooperating countries

Policy Document
This report provides an overview of resource efficiency policies and instruments in 31 member and cooperating countries of the European Environment Agency network (Eionet). A detailed survey was conducted during the first half of 2011 to collect, analyse and disseminate information about national experiences in developing and implementing resource efficiency policies, and to facilitate sharing of experiences and good practice. The report reviews national approaches to resource efficiency and explores similarities and differences in policies, strategies, indicators and targets, policy drivers and institutional setup and information gaps. It concludes with some EEA considerations for future policies on resource efficiency which could be considered in developing future resource efficiency policies at the EU and country levels. The analysis is illustrated with short examples of policy initiatives in the countries, described in more detail in the country profile documents available below.

Related content

Related indicators

Indicator Specification Water intensity of crop production in Europe The water intensity of crop production is defined as the total volume of water input (irrigation and soil moisture; measured in cubic meters (m 3) ) for one unit of gross value added generated from the production of all crop types, excluding relevant subsidies on crops (GVA adjusted for subsidies; measured in Purchasing Power Standard (PPS)). The lower the indicator value, the  less water intensive the crop production.
Indicator Specification
Archived
Water intensity of crop production The water intensity of crop production is defined as the total volume of water input (irrigation and soil moisture; measured in cubic meters - m 3 ) for one unit of gross value added generated from the production of all crop types, excluding relevant subsidies on crops (GVA adjusted for subsidies; measured in Purchasing Power Standard - PPS). The lower the value of the indicator, the better the water intensity.
Indicator Specification
Archived
Emission intensity of agriculture in Europe The indicator is used to illustrate decoupling of economic growth (Gross Value Added-GVA) from the environmental impact (nutrient losses).The indicator displays the percentage of change in emission of nutrients from agriculture  (expressed as nutrient balance) plotted together with the change in the gross value added (GVA) of the agriculture industry over the same period of time (between 2000-2011). Absolute decoupling occurs when the environmentally relevant variable is stable or decreasing while the economic driving force is growing. Relative decoupling occurs when the growth rate of the emission is positive, but less than the growth rate of the GVA. Furthermore, the indicator illustrates emission intensity of the agriculture sector expressed as the amount of nutrient balance in agriculture per unit of production of the agriculture sector (expressed as one million Euro of gross value added). The indicator illustrates both emission intensity based on total GVA (which includes subsidies) and emission intensity based on GVA, excluding subsidies.

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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/policy-documents/resource-efficiency-in-europe-2014 or scan the QR code.

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