Achieving a sustainable Europe will require far-reaching societal change, engaging all sectors of the economy and society. This document focuses on the example of the food system.
Sustainability transitions
Sustainability transitions
The environmental challenges ahead of us are global and systemic. Therefore, to achieve the EU’s long-term sustainability goals, the core systems of our societies will have to change dramatically. That is especially true for the systems related to food, energy, mobility and construction.
The European Union and its neighbours have in recent decades achieved remarkable progress in socio-economic well-being and prosperity while taking actions that are cognisant of planet earth’s ecological limits. At the same time, as it is widely acknowledged, Europe and the rest of the world still face fundamental environmental and sustainability challenges of unprecedented scale and urgency.
The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted swift and forceful actions by governments and societies around the world. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing reflects on these responses and the link between the pandemic and the environment to draw lessons that could be used in making societies more sustainable.
In most European countries and in the EU as a whole, waste generation is growing but at a slower pace than the economy. However, there are no signs that the overall objective of reducing the total generation of waste is close to being achieved, according to a European Environment Agency report published today. The report’s findings highlight opportunities to more effectively prevent waste, with textiles in the spotlight.
Most Europeans live in cities and cities are Europe’s economic, cultural, and political hubs. Cities face environmental and climate challenges but also hold keys to realise Europe’s sustainability ambitions. Two new assessments on urban sustainability, published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today, combine several environment and climate themes, calling for better integration of policies to address the complex and interlinked challenges through win-win solutions.
Published: 15 Dec 2021
This briefing provides a snapshot of the status of the traded non-hazardous, recyclable wastes within the EU in order to provide knowledge and information in support of the review of the EU’s Waste Shipment Regulation. The information and knowledge in the briefing aims at improving the functioning of secondary material markets by offering insights and potential solutions so that waste is treated in the best possible way in line with the principles of the waste hierarchy.
Published: 10 Dec 2021
This report presents the detailed analysis of eight urban environmental sustainability nexus. These constitute examples to help understand the complexity of urban systems and explore how, in practice, using nexus analysis can help identifying existing challenges, potential trade-offs and co-benefits on actions to achieve urban sustainability objectives and opportunities to move towards better coordinated and integrated policy and action. Findings have been summarized in the main Urban Sustainability in Europe – Avenues for change report.
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The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted swift and forceful actions by governments and societies around the world. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing reflects on these responses and the link between the pandemic and the environment to draw lessons that could be used in making societies more sustainable.
In most European countries and in the EU as a whole, waste generation is growing but at a slower pace than the economy. However, there are no signs that the overall objective of reducing the total generation of waste is close to being achieved, according to a European Environment Agency report published today. The report’s findings highlight opportunities to more effectively prevent waste, with textiles in the spotlight.
Most Europeans live in cities and cities are Europe’s economic, cultural, and political hubs. Cities face environmental and climate challenges but also hold keys to realise Europe’s sustainability ambitions. Two new assessments on urban sustainability, published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) today, combine several environment and climate themes, calling for better integration of policies to address the complex and interlinked challenges through win-win solutions.
Creating a more resilient and sustainable future will require Europe to reimagine its economic model, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report published today. The report highlights opportunities for Europe to go further in creating an economy that can deliver prosperity and sustainability.
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2021 was marked by Covid-19 and climate change impacts. Faced with higher energy prices and health concerns, Europe’s recovery requires difficult decisions in 2022. Delayed action or lower ambitions are more likely to have higher social and economic costs in the long run. Addressing social inequalities in this sustainability transition is the key to a better future for us all.
From carbon neutrality to circular economy, cleaner air to cleaner transport, Europe has set ambitious environmental and climate objectives. Cities, where the large majority of Europeans live, need to play a decisive role in achieving Europe’s sustainability targets. The question is: how can cities become sustainable?
Achieving sustainability will require fundamental, transformative, and cross-cutting change, entailing major shifts in society’s goals, incentives, technologies, social practices and norms, as well as in knowledge systems and governance approaches.
How are Europe’s cities adapting to climate change and moving to a sustainable future?
Article 17 Mar 2021Adapting to the impacts of climate change is a top priority in the European Union. What is driving cities to implement important measures to mitigate these impacts and make urban centres more resilient and sustainable? We sat down with Ivone Pereira Martins, EEA expert in urban sustainability on what the Agency is doing to help this vital work.
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This briefing provides a snapshot of the status of the traded non-hazardous, recyclable wastes within the EU in order to provide knowledge and information in support of the review of the EU’s Waste Shipment Regulation. The information and knowledge in the briefing aims at improving the functioning of secondary material markets by offering insights and potential solutions so that waste is treated in the best possible way in line with the principles of the waste hierarchy.
For the EEA urban environment sustainability means encouraging revitalization and transitions of urban areas and cities to improve livability, promote innovation and reduce environmental impacts while maximizing economical and social co-benefits. This report is based on the EEA conceptual framework for urban environmental sustainability and brings together results of a combined analytical approach based on literature review (a top-down assessment based on nexus analysis) together with results from a survey and interviews with selected cities (a bottom-up approach) on drivers of urban transitions.
This report presents the detailed analysis of eight urban environmental sustainability nexus. These constitute examples to help understand the complexity of urban systems and explore how, in practice, using nexus analysis can help identifying existing challenges, potential trade-offs and co-benefits on actions to achieve urban sustainability objectives and opportunities to move towards better coordinated and integrated policy and action. Findings have been summarized in the main Urban Sustainability in Europe – Avenues for change report.
Creating a resilient economy within environmental limits
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