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Bio-waste – mainly food and garden waste – is a key waste stream with a high potential for contributing to a more circular economy. This report provides an overview of bio-waste generation, prevention, collection, and treatment in Europe.
Bathing is an extremely popular and important leisure activity in Europe. This annual assessment of European bathing sites shows how well environmental protection measures are implemented, allowing people to make informed decisions on where to go to best enjoy Europe’s inland and coastal bathing sites.
This report presents CO2 emission data on new passenger vehicles and new light commercial vehicles registered in Europe in 2018.
This report analyses the developments of the official EU data submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 1990 to 2018. It also provides a short summary of the results for 2018 compared with those for 2017.
Submission under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol
This report, building on the experience of both the EEA and Eionet, presents a synthesis of global and European megatrends with illustrations of key emerging trends, wild cards and uncertainties. It aims to inform about on‑going, emerging and potential future developments, raise awareness and contribute to the diffusion of anticipatory thinking.
This joint EEA-FOEN report explores two key questions related to Europe’s long-term environmental and climate ambitions: how to define a ‘safe operating space’ for Europe, and whether Europe’s environmental footprint is currently smaller or larger than its estimated ‘safe operating space’.
An overview of the policies, approaches and targets of 32 European countries
People’s awareness of air pollution and the associated risks to their health and that of their children has grown significantly over recent years, often informed by local or national campaigns led by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as by media coverage. In some countries, groups of concerned citizens, often supported by NGOs, have taken authorities to court over air quality issues, and the courts have ruled in favour of the right to clean air in several instances.
This briefing analyses EU Member States’ historic and projected emissions that are not included under the EU Emissions Trading System.
The report presents an updated assessment of the population exposed to high levels of environmental noise and the associated health impacts in Europe, based on the new World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. The report also documents actions being taken to manage and reduce noise exposure and reviews the progress made towards meeting policy objectives. The evaluation of the status of exposure to environmental noise in Europe is based on the latest data collected under the Environmental Noise Directive (END). The report also describes other relevant issues, such as inequalities in exposure to environmental noise as well as impacts on wildlife.
Floodplains are part of Europe’s natural capital, covering 7 % of the continent's area and up to 30 % of its terrestrial Natura 2000 site area. Studies have shown that 70-90 % of floodplains have been environmentally degraded. The objective of this work is to showcase that natural floodplains support achieving multiple EU policy objectives. More specifically to show that natural and restored floodplains provide an alternative to structural measures for providing flood protection, and at the same time support achieving higher quality ecosystem service like improved water quality, improved conditions for biodiversity conservation and improved recreational value.
Data reported by companies on the production, import, export, destruction and feedstock use of fluorinated greenhouse gases in the European Union, 2007-2018
Transport and environment report (TERM) 2019
Mobility plays a key role in the EU economy. However, the EU transport sector still relies heavily on fossil fuels and is responsible for one quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — a share that keeps growing. In addition, the sector is a significant source of air pollution despite significant progress achieved since 1990, especially of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as well as the main source of environmental noise in Europe. Current efforts to limit the sector’s environmental and climate impacts in Europe are not sufficient to meet the EU’s long-term climate and environmental policy objectives.
Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) comprises the largest waste stream in the EU, with relatively stable amounts produced over time and high recovery rates. Although this may suggest that the construction sector is highly circular, scrutiny of waste management practices reveals that C&DW recovery is largely based on backfilling operations and low-grade recovery, such as using recycled aggregates in road sub-bases. This briefing examines how circular economy-inspired actions can help achieve waste policy objectives, namely waste prevention and increase both the quantity and the quality of recycling for C&DW while reducing hazardous materials in the waste.
Key developments, achievements and the way ahead. This publication is a short overview of the key developments in and achievements of the Western Balkan countries’ cooperation with the EEA over the past 20 years and a glimpse of the way ahead as the Agency and Eionet celebrate their 25th anniversary. It gives our partners in the Western Balkans the opportunity to describe developments from their perspective.
The European energy system is undergoing rapid changes to set the EU economy on a low-carbon and resource-efficient path. Renewable energy is instrumental to this transformation. EU efforts to double the share of renewable energy in its consumption have paid off, having reduced significantly the amount of fossil fuels used and their associated greenhouse gas emissions. Concerning air pollutant emissions however, the outcomes were not always positive: in countries where biomass burning has increased considerably since 2005, emissions of certain air pollutants have also increased. This briefing presents an estimate of the impact of renewable energy consumption on fossil fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and air pollution since 2005.
It is currently not possible to perform in-depth environmental and health risk assessments of all chemical substances in use in Europe because of the great variety of chemicals and their diverse uses. New and legacy chemicals continue to be released into Europe’s environment, adding to the total chemical burden on Europe’s citizens and ecosystems. Early identification of emerging risks is one of the activities of the European Environment Agency (EEA). This briefing summarises the known and potential risks to human health and the environment in Europe posed by a group of very persistent chemicals, the per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS).
This assessment explores whether Europe has been able to reverse eutrophication trends in its regional seas. The assessment is based on publicly available monitoring data, primarily collected in the context of the Water Framework Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Regional Sea Conventions.
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