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Left map: Scenario RCP4.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway). Right map: Scenario RCP8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway).The line pattern represents the areas in which at least two-third of the simulations used agree on the sign of the change.
Left panel: boxes outlined in black indicate areas with at least three stations, so are more likely to be representative; areas with significant long-term trends are indicated by black dots. Right panel: projected changes in near-surface air temperature by the period 2071-2100, compared with 1971-2000 for RCP4.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway) and 8.5 emissions scenarios; simulations are based on the multi-model ensemble average of simulations of the EURO-CORDEX initiative.
Colours assigned to different level of groundwater depletion
Grid boxes outlined in solid black contain at least three stations and so are likely to be more representative of the grid box. Significant (at the 5 % level) long-term trend is shown by a black dot (In the map above, this is the case for all grid boxes). The map below shows average annual air temperatures over Iberian Peninsula and Scandinavia, respectively.
The figure shows the share of bathing water quality classes by country for the season of 2022.
The figure shows the share of bathing water quality classes by year.
The map shows for each of the 27 EU member states the risk of not meeting the target to prepare for reuse or recycle at least 55% of municipal waste in 2025 and the risk of not meeting the target to recycle at least 65% of packaging waste in 2025.
We all want to know the quality of 'our' local bathing area, beach or lake, and whether it conforms to EU standards. Below you will find a map viewer that will allow you to view on-line the quality of the bathing water in the almost 22 000 coastal beaches and freshwater bathing waters across Europe.
Source: European Bird Census Council/Royal Society for the Protection of Birds/BirdLife International/Czech Society for Ornithology
The historical trend in the Circular Material Use Rate (CMUR) indicator is presented, together with the results of different exploratory scenarios. The analysis of the changes to waste and material flows only provides a first ‘back of the envelope’ estimate of how the CMUR might change (assuming other parameters remain constant), without implementing a full mass-balancing exercise. The effect of selected (isolated) variations in the underlying parameters of the CMUR indicator should be interpreted as exploratory scenario results. The ambition of the Circular economy action plan of doubling the CMUR within the next decade is understood as moving from a CMUR of 11.7% in 2020 – the year of the adoption of the Action Plan – to 23.4% in 2030 for the EU-27 as a whole.
The line graph shows the evolution of the Circular Material Use Rate (CMUR), together with the evolution of recycled materials and the domestic material consumption indicator.
The line graph shows the circular material use rate, in percentages, for the total CMUR and by material categories: biomass, metals (gross ores), non-metallic minerals and fossil fuels.
As a volume-based indicator, the Circular Material Use Rate (CMUR) is dominated by the non-metallic minerals which make up 52 % of material consumption and 66 % of recycled waste. Thus, the main leverage point for increasing the CMUR are measures to increase the CMUR of non-metallic minerals. From an environmental perspective, the significance of the material categories is different: around 75 % of the total environmental footprint of the EU27’s final demand can be allocated to ready-for-use materials and fuels. Fossil fuels contribute 35 % to the environmental impact of ready-for-use materials, biomass 32 %, metals 26 %, and non-metallic minerals only 6%.
This figure shows the use of plant protection products by professional and non-professional users by year in non-agricultural areas in France. More precisely, it shows the evolution, calculated only for non-agricultural areas, of an indicator known as NODU («Nombre de Doses Unités»). The non-agricultural NODU corresponds to the surface area of gardens, green spaces and infrastructures (so-called JEVI) that would be treated annually with the plant protection products sold during the course of a year, at the maximum authorised doses. After a period of strong decrease, the 2020 non-agricultural NODU stands at 130,736 ha in 2020, down 92% since 2009. As a result of the use restrictions applied to private individuals in France, the share of non-professional use in the 2020 non-agricultural NODU is decreasing: it goes from 65% (1,104,758 ha) in 2009 to 32% (41,953 ha) in 2020.
The vertical bars represent the time-weighted mean concentration of active substances as measured during the period May to September of each year between 1992 and 2018 (except only May to June in 1993). The dots represents the total amount of active substances (of those analysed) that were applied on field in the Vemmenhög area during the same period (1992-2018). The two vertical lines show that the first significant reduction in the concentration of active substances occurred in 1995, following the onset of the provision of site-specific guidance to farmers on how to prevent the release of pesticides to local surface waters. The second fall in pesticide levels was seen in 1998, after the implementation of economic incentives by the government and industry.
The two charts illustrate some of the results of the randomised clinical trial which was conducted in Cyprus as part of the “Organic diet and children’s health” study. In the study, urine samples from children aged 10-12 from schools in the Limassol area of Cyprus were analysed during two separate periods. During a 'conventional' period, participants were asked to maintain their usual dietary choices (>80% conventional diet) for a total of 40 days. During the 'organic period', participants were asked to follow strictly the two ~20-day sequential organic dietary menus provided to them for 40±3 days. Two urinary biomarkers were then measured by the researchers. The first were biomarkers of exposure to pyrethroid pesticides (3-phenoxybenzoic acid, 3-PBA), and neonicotinoid pesticides, (6-chloronicotinic acid, 6-CN). The second were biomarkers of oxidative stress/inflammation (8-iso-prostaglandin F2a [8-iso-PGF2a], malondialdehyde [MDA], and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine [8-OHdG]), which are considered as early-stage indicators for chronic conditions, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes or cancer. The left chart shows the measurements for the urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress/inflammation (8-OHdG), while the right chart shows those for the urinary biomarkers of pyrethroid pesticides (3-PBA). The results illustrate that the children had a lower body burden of pyrethroid pesticides and lower levels of oxidative stress/inflammation biomarkers during their 'organic period'. These results were statistically significant.
The maps show the monitoring sites in Europe that exceeded effect or quality thresholds for (left) imidacloprid in surface waters (right) atrazine in groundwater in the year 2020. The classification of 'unknown’ for some monitoring sites means that the substance was detected but the concentration was below the limit of quantification (LoQ) and the LoQ was higher than the assessment threshold. This means that it is impossible to determine whether there was an exceedance or not. The data reported for imidacloprid in surface waters cover 16 countries. The data reported for atrazine cover 18 countries. The monitoring results are reported under the Water Information System for Europe State of Environment (WISE SoE) reporting, more specifically WISE 6, and the spatial data for the monitoring sites are reported under the Water Framework Directive and the WISE 5 Spatial data reporting.
The figures show the percentage of monitoring sites with exceedance of effect thresholds or quality standards, set by European or national regulatory standards, and weighted by country area to reduce the impact of uneven data reporting (2013-2020). For surface waters, EU environmental quality standards and (in the absence of those) national regulatory standards were used, reflecting the lowest ecotoxicologically-based effect threshold. Effect thresholds were identified for 120 out of 248 pesticides (48%). The exceedances included here refer to those 120 pesticides. For groundwater, the Groundwater Directive quality standard of 0.1µg/l was used to identify exceedance. Twelve non-relevant metabolites (nrM) were excluded from the assessment.
The chart shows the total amount (in kilograms) of active substances sold in the EU-27 annually between 2011 and 2020, by categorisation of active substances. The statistics on quantities of active substances placed on the market in plant protection products are collected under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, provided to Eurostat under Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 on statistics on pesticides. These are are also disseminated in the Eurostat dataset ‘Pesticide sales’ (aei_fm_salpest09).Those data are categorised into 4 groups defined in the Annex of Commission Directive (EU) 2019/782.The categorisation of active substances is the same as the one used by the European Commission for the calculation of its harmonised risk indicators. It includes: group 1 - low-risk active substances; group 2 – approved active substances; group 3 - active substances that are candidates for substitution and group 4 - unapproved active substances. Goup 2 includes approved active substances that are neither low-risk nor candidates for substitution, around 75% of all approved active substances in the EU according to the EU Pesticides Database.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/find/global or scan the QR code.
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