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This document is the annual European Union (EU) emission inventory report under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) (UNECE, 1979). The report and its accompanying data are provided as an official submission to the Executive Secretary of UNECE by the European Commission on behalf of the EU as a party. The report is compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the EU Member States.
Almost three quarters of Europeans live in cities. The air quality in our cities is therefore of significant importance to the health of Europeans. Considerable progress has been made in the past twenty years in improving urban air quality, but issues remain. A number of different air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and ozone remain above regulated levels, posing a threat to human health. This report describes a European pilot project to help identify and address the reasons underlying this 'gap' in implementation of air quality policy in 12 European cities, and thereby draw lessons of wider relevance.
Greenhouse gases fell by 3.3 % in the EU in 2011, leading to the lowest level of emissions in reports going back to 1990. The decrease in 2011 was also the third largest over this period, according to official data compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and reported by the EU to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The grid is based on the recommendation at the 1st European Workshop on Reference Grids in 2003 and later INSPIRE geographical grid systems. For each country three vector polygon grid shape files, 1, 10 and 100 km, are available. The grids cover at least country borders - plus 15km buffer - and, where applicable, marine Exclusive Economic Zones v7.0 - plus 15km buffer - (www.vliz.be/vmdcdata/marbound). Note that the extent of the grid into the marine area does not reflect the extent of the territorial waters.
These are the first EU-level water accounts that display water balances at monthly and sub-basin levels. EEA developed these accounts in the hope that the many data gaps and methodological imperfections will be ironed out in the future.
Increasing some tax rates and removing subsidies on environmentally harmful products and services can boost economic growth if the revenue generated is then used to relieve the tax burden on employment and investment.
The average car sold in the EU in 2012 was 9 % more fuel-efficient than the average three years before, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). Improved technology and an increase in the share of diesel cars are the main reasons behind the fall in average CO2 emissions.
This report provides policymakers across Europe, at different levels of governance and stages of policy formulation, with information that can be used to support adaptation planning and implementation. Specific parts of the report are therefore targeted at different audiences.
Improving air quality in Europe: Signals 2013 focuses on Europe’s air. This year’s edition tries to explain the current state of air quality in Europe, where they come from, how air pollutants form, and how they affect our health and the environment. It also gives an overview of the way we build our knowledge on air, and how we tackle air pollution through a wide range of policies and measures.
Improved waste management is an essential element in efforts to make Europe more resource efficient. One key means of achieving that is by shifting waste management up the waste hierarchy. In recent years these important goals have been integrated into European environmental policy. But national efforts to shift up the waste hierarchy have been under way for longer. Together, these instruments establish a range of waste management targets and broader goals for the years to 2020.
A study in integrated environmental and economic analysis - This report, prepared within the broad framework of EEA work on environmental accounts, presents and describes the tool of environmentally extended input-output analysis and illustrates its potential uses. The report aims to: present the tool of environmentally extended input-output analysis of EE-IOT and assess its potential for answering key SCP policy questions; make use of the tool and the latest data available in Europe to identify the environmental 'hotspots' and leverage points in European consumption and production; and identify weaknesses and potential for improvement in the current application of the tool.
Road charges for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs or lorries) should reflect the varied health effects of traffic pollution in different European countries. This means charges should be much higher in some countries compared to others, according to analysis from the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Ozone pollution still exceeded target levels in Europe during summer 2012, but the number of exceedances of the alert threshold was lower than in any year since monitoring started in 1997. However, almost all EU Member States failed to keep levels of the pollutant within targets set to protect human health.
In 2011, average CO2 vehicle emissions for most carmakers were below target levels estimated for 2012. This was the situation for 47 carmakers, responsible for 95% of the new cars registered in the EU in 2011, according to the latest European Environment Agency (EEA) analysis.
Water pollution and physical modifications are still affecting the ecology of many of Europe’s lakes, rivers, transitional water bodies and coastal waters. These problems are likely to prevent the water bodies reaching ‘good’ status by 2015, a target set by the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD).
The Future We Want is the declaration on sustainable development and a green economy adopted at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio on June 19, 2012. The Declaration includes broad sustainability objectives within themes of Poverty Eradication, Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture, Energy, Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Cities, Health and Population and Promoting Full and Productive Employment. It calls for the negotiation and adoption of internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals by end 2014. It also calls for a UN resolution strengthening and consolidating UNEP both financially and institutionally so that it can better disseminate environmental information and provide capacity building for countries.
Emissions of greenhouse gases in the European Union (EU) fell on average by 2.5 % from 2010 to 2011, although several countries increased emissions. Almost all European countries are individually on track towards their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol compared to last year, according to two reports published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The continuing loss of biodiversity – made up of genes, species and ecosystems – is a matter of growing concern in Europe. Yet measuring the extent of the loss and the threat it poses is a huge challenge.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/reporting/dm or scan the QR code.
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