Climate change mitigation

EEA/ADS/21/014 - Inter-Agency call for tenders for the provision of benchmarked staff engagement surveys

CorinaElena Samson — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 08:00:00 GMT

EEA/ADS/21/014 - Inter-Agency call for tenders for the provision of benchmarked staff engagement surveys

CorinaElena Samson — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 08:00:00 GMT

Eionet core data flows 2020

Bogdan Ciobanu — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 15:00:00 GMT

The European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) is a partnership network of the EEA and its member and cooperating countries. This briefing presents the results of data collected in 2020 for 11 Eionet core data flows. It summarises the evaluation of hundreds of data deliveries received from reporting countries. The purpose of the briefing is to show progress against agreed reporting criteria (timeliness and data quality) in order to allow countries to identify and prioritise the resources they need for regular reporting procedures. The provision of high-quality data by Eionet is fundamental for the EEA to achieve its mission to provide timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.

Eionet core data flows 2020

EEA (European Environment Agency) — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 13:01:32 GMT

Pia Schmidt — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 07:54:37 GMT

Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas

Monika Peterlin — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 14:19:45 GMT

As a main source of protein, commercial fish stocks and other commercial sea products are renewable resources, which could sustain human needs in the long term — if exploited in an appropriate manner. Although further improvements are still necessary, the analysis of long time series shows clear and important signs of improvement in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. At least 24-47 % of all stocks meet at least one of two criteria defining the Marine Strategy Framework Directive's 'good environmental status' (GES) in the regions respectively. Meeting these criteria means that the exploitation (i.e. fishing mortality, F) and reproductive capacity of the stocks are compatible with their maximum sustainable yield (MSY). While slightly less than half of all stocks in the region have adequate assessments allowing comparisons with at least one of the GES criteria (83% of these met at least one criterion), these assessed stocks account for approximately 75% of the landings in the NEA and Baltic Sea. Since the early 2000s, better management of fish and shellfish fisheries has contributed to a clear decrease in fishing pressure in these two regional seas, with the average fishing mortality close to F MSY in 2018. This has led to signs of recovery in the reproductive capacity of several fish and shellfish stocks. If these efforts continue, fishing mortality in the region on average should remain near F MSY and reproductive capacity should continue to improve towards the objective for healthy fish and shellfish stocks in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. In contrast, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea the situation remains critical. Only six out of 70 stocks (8.6 %) in the Mediterranean Sea and none of the 7 stocks in the Black Sea meet at least one of the GES criteria in these regions. This is mainly due to the prevalence of overfishing and a significant lack of knowledge of the reproductive capacity state of fish and shellfish stocks. Most of the stocks considered in the Mediterranean Sea had adequate assessment to compare fishing mortality with the GES criterion, but few had measures or thresholds of reproductive capacity. In the Black Sea, five of the seven stocks had adequate assessments to evaluate fishing mortality but only one of these also had measures or thresholds for reproductive capacity. It is unlikely that the 2020 policy objective has been met in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Given this context, the 2020 objective of having healthy commercial fish and shellfish populations is unlikely to have been met in Europe’s seas and further collective action is required.

Trend in the state of the assessed European commercial fish and shellfish stocks in relation to the Good Environmental Status criteria for fishing mortality and reproductive capacity in the four regional seas

Carsten Iversen — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 14:19:45 GMT

This figure shows trends for the North-East Atlantic and the Baltic Sea in the status of assessed commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks between 1947 and 2019. The shaded areas represent the confidence limits. For the Mediterranean and Black Seas, no GES threshold is available for reproductive capacity. The dashed horizontal line represents the 2003 level for these regions. Due to the reduced number of stocks available for the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (only two), the indicators are not shown for this region.

State of the assessed European commercial fish and shellfish stocks in relation to the Good Environmental Status criteria for fishing mortality and reproductive capacity per EU marine region in 2018

Ana Tejedor — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 14:19:45 GMT

This figure shows the state of the assessed commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks per EU marine region, for which assessments were conducted in 2015-2019 (not all stocks have annual assessments). Majority of data is from 2018.

Landings of commercial fish and shellfish per EU marine region in 2018, and proportion of landings for which stock assessments were conducted between 2015-2019

Ana Tejedor — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 14:19:45 GMT

This figure shows the 2018 landings of commercially exploited fish and shellfish stocks per EU marine region, and the proportions of landings for which stock assessments were conducted in 2015-2019 (not all stocks have annual assessments). See the related Excel File for extra details.

Status of marine fish and shellfish stocks in European seas

Monika Peterlin — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 14:18:51 GMT

The indicators track the status of commercial fish stocks in European regional seas and the pressure exerted by fisheries on those stocks, as well as the quality of the information available. To that end, the following is reported: the status of marine fish and shellfish stocks based on the current level of exploitation and reproductive capacity; the importance of the (sub-)region, reflected by the total landings (as a proxy of catch) of fish from commercial fisheries in European seas per MSFD (sub-)region; the availability of appropriate information for the status assessment, as reflected by the proportion of those landings covered by quantitative stock assessments (i.e. the proportion providing the required indicators and their reference levels). State of marine fish and shellfish stocks The MSFD requires 'Good Environmental Status' to be achieved by 2020 (EC, 2008). According to the MSFD (Descriptor 3), three criteria are relevant to determining if a fish or shellfish stock has achieved GES. Stocks should be: (1) exploited sustainably consistent with high long-term yields, (2) have full reproductive capacity in order to maintain stock biomass, and (3) the proportion of older and larger fish/shellfish should be maintained (or increased) being an indicator of a healthy stock. Sustainable exploitation: sustainably exploited stocks are stocks for which F is at or below levels that deliver MSY, i.e. F ≤ F MSY . If values for F and F MSY are available from a stock assessment, the stock is considered to have met the GES criterion if F ≤ F MSY . For some ICES stocks without stock assessments, proxy methods exist to estimate the status of F in relation to F MSY by using catch length and other available biological information. Reproductive capacity: in areas assessed by the ICES, the criterion for sustainable reproductive capacity (SSB > SSB MSY ) has been modified, for pragmatic reasons, to SSB > MSY B trigger . Spawning stock biomass (SSB) is consistently provided as part of ICES stock assessments, i.e. of the North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea, but not, for the most part, by STECF assessments, i.e. of the Mediterranean and Black Sea stocks. Similarly to the above, a stock is considered to have been assessed against this criterion if values of SSB and a good proxy for SSB MSY (i.e. MSY B trigger ) are available from a stock assessment, and the stock is considered to have met the GES criterion if SSB > SSB MSY (or appropriate proxy). Healthy age and size structure: in this case, the assumption is that a stock with sufficient numbers of old and large fish is healthy. However, this criterion is not sufficiently developed and no threshold for GES is known for this criterion. Therefore, it is not included. This has resulted in four assessment categories: Not assessed: no sufficient information available to assess status; F: status assessed based only on F in relation to F MSY; SSB: status assessed based only on SSB in relation to SSB MSY (or some proxy, i.e. MSY B trigger ); F & SSB: status assessed based on both F and SSB. Due to the ongoing discussions of the criteria integration rules for Descriptor 3, the stocks are classified as: Stocks meeting both the available GES criteria for F and SSB Stocks meeting only one of the available GES criteria, i.e. either F or SSB criteria are met Stocks not meeting any of the available GES criteria, i.e. neither F nor SSB criteria are met For those stocks for which adequate information is available to determine GES for fishing mortality (F) and/or reproductive capacity (SSB) a second distinction is made between: (1) stocks in good status based on both fishing mortality and reproductive capacity; (2) stocks in good status based on only one criteria (either because one of the two criteria are not in good status or data is only available for one criteria and it is in good status); and (3) stocks not in good status (either because one of the two criteria are not in good status or data is only available for one criteria and it is not in good status). Total landing Landings information for the North-East Atlantic and the Baltic Sea is based on the Stock Assessment Graphs landings data for the assessed stocks, and in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Official Nominal Catches, 2006-201 8 dataset in the case of unassessed stocks/landings. Fisheries nominal catch statistics are reported annually by the national offices. In cooperation with Eurostat and FAO, ICES prepares and publishes the Official Nominal Catch statistics dataset for the Northeast Atlantic (FAO major fishing area 27). SAG catches are used whenever available, as these take discards and potential area reporting issues into account, neither of which are reflected in the nominal catches. Landings information for the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea is based on the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) capture production dataset For the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the figure is based on 2018 landings data. In this case, it was not possible to use landings data from the assessments as these refer to GSAs which are not specified in the FAO capture production dataset, divided in larger aggregation areas. Only some of the species/taxa in the landings data can be considered 'commercial fish', which, for assessment purposes, may consist of several stocks. Only some of these stocks are covered by quantitative stock assessments such that their status can be assessed based on the above criteria. Stock In the North-East Atlantic area, stocks are generally defined based on biological criteria and knowledge of population migration, mixing and spawning areas. For example, cod in the northeast Atlantic is currently considered to form sixteen different stocks, between which mixing is generally negligible. These stocks are found over multiple MSFD ecoregions, and some individual stock distributions cover more than one ecoregion. However, in this analysis each stock has been assigned to a single ecoregion (see Methodology). In the Mediterranean and Black Sea, on the other hand, stocks are mostly defined by management area because of a lack of biological knowledge. Because these stocks are based on a specific geographical area, most can be attributed to a specific MSFD (sub-)region. In the Mediterranean, assessments can refer to several stocks of the same species, but these stocks remain separate management and functional units.

PDoI and Declaration of Confidentiality of EEA SMT Members-LBA

Bogdan Ciobanu — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 09:58:53 GMT

Decline in ocean pH measured at the Aloha station and yearly mean surface seawater pH reported on a global scale (Copernicus Marine)

Monika Peterlin — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 08:12:48 GMT

A decline in pH corresponds to an increase in the acidity of ocean water. o Green line: data based on in situ measurements at Aloha station. o Blue line: pH calculated at Aloha station from dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations and total alkalinity, at in situ temperature. o Red line: global yearly mean surface seawater pH, calculated by Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service.

EEA/DIS/R0/21/007 -Record of opening of submissions

Stefania Tomasina — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 13:00:00 GMT

History of Eionet Core Data Flow data reporting performance

Jonathan Maidens — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 07:15:49 GMT

The table shows the countries' reporting performance on the basis of Eionet Core Data Flows since 2005

Overall data reporting performance of countries in 2020

Jonathan Maidens — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 07:15:00 GMT

The chart shows the scoring of countries’ reporting performance on the basis of Eionet Core Data Flows.

History of Eionet Core Data Flow data reporting performance (direct URL to the dataset is not available)

Ane Victoriano Lamariano — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 11:50:00 GMT

Dataset definition (CSV files)

Marek STARON — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 09:21:51 GMT

An archive with files in .csv format containing definitions of fields in the dataset tables.

INSPIRE compliant metadata set

Marek STARON — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:05:56 GMT

Contracts awarded by EEA in 2020

CorinaElena Samson — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 22:32:26 GMT

European sea surface temperature

Carsten Iversen — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 13:54:05 GMT

All European seas have warmed considerably since 1870, particularly since the late 1970s. During the period for which comprehensive data are available (1981-2018), sea surface temperature increased by between 0.2 °C, in the North Atlantic, and 0.5 °C, in the Black Sea, per decade. This increase is projected to continue, although more slowly than that of air temperature over land. The frequency and magnitude of marine heatwaves has also increased significantly globally and in European seas and is projected to continue, with increasing impacts on ecosystems and climate expected.

European sea surface temperature

Carsten Iversen — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 13:52:58 GMT

This indicator monitors trends in average SST anomalies in Europe’s regional seas and in the global ocean. Care must be taken when comparing the results reported here with previous versions of the indicator, as differences can arise from the choice of underlying data sets. SST is an important physical characteristic of the oceans. It varies naturally with latitude, being warmest at the equator and coldest in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. As the oceans absorb more heat, SST will increase (and heat will be redistributed to deeper water layers). Increases in the mean SST are also accompanied by increases in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (that is, when the daily SST exceeds a locally and seasonally defined threshold). Increases in SST can lead to an increase in atmospheric water vapour over the oceans, influencing entire weather systems. The North Atlantic Ocean plays a key role in the regulation of climate over the European continent by transporting heat northwards and redistributing energy from the atmosphere to the deep parts of the ocean. The Gulf Stream and its extensions, the North Atlantic Current and Drift, partly determine weather patterns over the European continent, including precipitation and wind regimes. One of the most visible physical ramifications of increased temperature in the oceans is a reduction in the area of sea ice coverage in the Arctic polar region. Temperature is a determining factor for the metabolism of species, and thus for their distribution and phenology, such as the timing of seasonal migrations, spawning events and peak abundances (e.g. plankton bloom events). There is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that many marine species and habitats, such as cetaceans in the North Atlantic Ocean, are highly sensitive to changes in SST. Increased temperature may also increase stratification of the water column. Such changes can significantly reduce vertical nutrient fluxes in the water column, thereby negatively influencing primary production and phytoplankton community structure. Further changes in SST could have widespread effects on marine species and cause the reconfiguration of marine ecosystems (Gilbert et al., 2014; Baker-Austin et al., 2016; Collins et al., 2019).

Burnt area in European countries

Hans-Martin Füssel — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 13:50:42 GMT

Forest fires in Europe

Irune Axpe — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 13:50:42 GMT

Climate change has increased forest fire risk across Europe. Even so, the burnt area of the Mediterranean region has decreased slightly since 1980, indicating that fire control efforts have been effective. However, in recent years, forest fires have affected regions in central and northern Europe not typically prone to fires, and, in 2018, more countries suffered large fires than ever before, coinciding with record droughts and heatwaves. An expansion of fire-prone areas and longer fire seasons are projected in most European regions, so additional adaptation measures are needed.

Forest fires in Europe

Irune Axpe — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 13:49:29 GMT

This indicator monitors: the burnt areas in European countries; the current state of and projected changes in forest fire danger.

Grant agreements awarded by EEA in 2020

CorinaElena Samson — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 21:57:33 GMT

CHASE classification in sediments, excluding metals

Johnny Reker — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 14:30:00 GMT

Results of classification of Chemical Status using the CHASE+ tool. Chemical status is evaluated in five classes, where NPAhigh and NPAgood are recognised as ‘non-problem areas’ and PAmoderate, PApoor and PAbad are recognised as ‘problem areas’ .

CHASE classification of contaminant status in biota

Johnny Reker — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 14:25:00 GMT

Monitoring of CO2 emissions from vans - Data 2013 - Provisional

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:00:00 GMT

CO2_vans_v3_mdb.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:00:01 GMT

CO2_vans_v3_csv.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:00:01 GMT

CO2_vans_v4_mdb.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:00:00 GMT

CO2_vans_v17_mdb.zip

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:36 GMT

Monitoring of CO2 emissions from vans - Data 2013 - Final

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:58 GMT

CO2_vans_v4_csv.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:59 GMT

Monitoring of CO2 emissions from vans - Data 2014 - Provisional

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:57 GMT

CO2_vans_v5_mdb.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:58 GMT

CO2_vans_v5_csv.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:57 GMT

Monitoring of CO2 emissions from vans - Data 2014 - Final

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:55 GMT

CO2_vans_v6_csv.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:56 GMT

CO2_vans_v6_mdb.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:55 GMT

CO2_vans_v7_mdb.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:54 GMT

CO2_vans_v7_csv.zip

David Simoens — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:54 GMT

CO2_vans_v14_mdb.zip

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:42 GMT

CO2_vans_v14_csv.zip

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:41 GMT

CO2_vans_v16_mdb.zip

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:38 GMT

CO2_vans_v16_csv.zip

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:37 GMT

CO2_vans_v17_csv.zip

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:59:35 GMT

Monitoring of CO2 emissions from vans

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:58:25 GMT

The Regulation (EU) No 2019/631 (and before that Regulation (EU) No 510/2011) requires Member States to record information for each new van registered in its territory. Every year, each Member State shall submit to the Commission all the information related to their new registrations. In particular, the following details are required for each new van registered: manufacturer name, type approval number, type, variant, version, make and commercial name, specific emissions of CO2, mass of the vehicle, wheel base, track width, fuel type and fuel mode. Additional information, such as engine power and engine capacity were also submitted. Data for EU-28 are reported in the main database. Since 2018 Iceland and since 2019 Norway are also included in the database.

Sharp decrease in CO2 emissions of new cars in 2020

Antti Pekka Kaartinen — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:55:00 GMT

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its provisional data about the emissions of newly registered passenger cars and vans in Europe in 2020. For cars, the data show a 12 % decrease in average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, compared with 2019. Average van emissions also decreased slightly, by about 1.5 %.

Monitoring of CO2 emissions from passenger cars – Regulation (EU) 2019/631

Peter Kjeld — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:52:11 GMT

The Regulation (EU) No 2019/631 requires Countries to record information for each new passenger car registered in its territory. Every year, each Member State shall submit to the Commission all the information related to their new registrations. In particular, the following details are required for each new passenger car registered: manufacturer name, type approval number, type, variant, version, make and commercial name, specific emissions of CO2 (NEDC and WLTP protocols), masses of the vehicle, wheel base, track width, engine capacity and power, fuel type and mode, eco-innovations and electricity consumption. Data for EU-27 and UK are reported in the main database. Since 2018 Iceland is also included in the database. Since 2019 Norway is also included in the database. For downloading the data in the elastic data viewer please use Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari.