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This report does three things. It provides an overview of market‑based instruments (MBIs) established by EU environmental legislation. Then it explains the established definitions and rationales for the application of environmental taxes and discusses their current design and application in EEA member countries. It concludes with overall findings and some reflections on the potential for long-term tax-shifting programmes in the context of policy targets as well as technological innovation and demographic changes.
The intended audience of this European Environment Agency (EEA) publication is the professional environmental evaluation community, that is, evaluators of European environment and climate policies, the EEA's networks and interested evaluation professionals, including those that are active in the European Environmental Evaluators Network (EEEN). The publication aims to facilitate a dialogue on policy evaluation, by clearly setting out the EEA's views on some of the challenges that evaluators encounter in the areas of environment and climate policy.
This document is the annual European Union (EU) emission inventory report to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The report and its accompanying data constitute the official submission by the European Commission (EC) on behalf of the EU as a Party to the Executive Secretary of UNECE. The report is compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the EU Member States.
This report builds on and complements existing products and initiatives on urban adaptation in Europe. It focuses on the state of actions in the field and progress achieved since the first EEA report in 2012, and it considers this analysis in relation to current challenges: Do existing actions lead to attractive, climate-resilient cities and if not, what needs to be changed? The report aims to broaden perspectives and provide input to a review and subsequent adjustment of urban adaptation to climate change by local governments and by supporting regional, national and European institutions, researchers and other relevant stakeholders.
The objective of this paper is to give a snapshot of the key GHG emission estimates which are regularly published by EU bodies.
This paper briefly analyses the major factors that accounted for decreased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions excluding land use, land use changes and forestry (LULUCF) in the EU-28. It consists of two parts: the first part looks at the year 2014 compared to 2013 and the second part looks at the whole period between 1990 and 2014. The data is based on the EU’s GHG inventory submission to UNFCCC in 2016. The paper ends with a quick overview of emission estimates for 2015 from other sources.
This report is the annual submission of the greenhouse gas inventory of the European Union to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It presents the greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2014 for the EU-28 individual Member States by IPCC sector.
This report is the annual submission of the greenhouse gas inventory of the European Union to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the Executive Summary). It presents the greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2014 for the EU-28 individual Member States by IPCC sector.
Noise pollution is a major problem for Europe’s environment. Transport and industry are the main sources of concern and prolonged exposure can damage human health and adversely affect ecosystems. European legislation aims to reduce noise pollution and also highlights the need to preserve areas that are currently unaffected. These so called quiet areas are an important component of the European soundscape and may offer havens away from noise pollution. This report sets out to identify where these potential quiet areas might be and offers an insight into how they could benefit the human and wildlife populations that inhabit or benefit from the rural European soundscape that is currently unaffected by noise pollution.
A scoping study on the links between public communication, environment policy implementation and behavioural science. In its Multiannual Work Programme 2014-2018, the EEA highlights the need for a transition towards a more sustainable society, fully aligned with the European Union’s 7th Environment Action Programme. This study explores - and aims to develop - the role of public communication to improve the implementation of environmental legislation and to contribute to this debate by bringing communications, environment and behaviour closer. It draws from other EEA work, in particular on consumption and policy evaluation where relevant.
Reporting by Member States under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants
This report presents an overview of approaches to material resource efficiency and to circular economy in thirty two European countries. It explores similarities and differences in national policy responses, with respect to policy objectives, priority resources and sectors, driving forces, targets and indicators, and the institutional setup. The report also reviews the EU policy framework for resource efficiency and analyses trends in material use and resource productivity between 2000 and 2014. Finally, it includes a number of considerations for the development of future policies on material resource efficiency and the circular economy. The analysis is richly illustrated with some sixty examples of countries’ policy initiatives, described in more detail in the 32 country profiles published alongside the main report.
This report provides a comparable measurement of urban sprawl for 32 European countries at three levels (the country level, the NUTS-2 region level and the 1-km2 cell level) and for two years (2006 and 2009). The analysis is based on the Copernicus system which monitors the Earth and collects data by different sources. This data provides information about a number of thematic areas, including land. Under land a pan-European component delivers information about various areas, including the level of sealed soil (imperviousness), through high resolution layers taken from satellite imagery. The analysis uses new urban sprawl metrics taking into account the way built-up areas are laid out and how they are used. It also looks at the factors which contribute to an increase or decrease in urban sprawl. The results confirm the conclusions of earlier EEA reports namely that in many parts of Europe current levels of urban sprawl have contributed to detrimental ecological, economic and social effects. This gives cause for concern and such effects may increase alongside planned urban development.
Every summer, European holiday resorts fill up with tourists eager to enjoy the warmer weather and the beautiful natural surroundings of this diverse continent. For many, the summer vacation is synonymous with swimming in the sea or in a lake, so it is natural that water quality is an important factor in choosing a destination. To help citizens make informed choices, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission publish the annual European bathing water quality report. The information contained in this edition - which covers bathing water quality in 2015 in the EU Member States, Albania and Switzerland - indicates where good quality bathing water is likely to be found in 2016.
The 2011 Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe states, in its milestone of actions to address land as a resource, that 'By 2020, EU policies take into account their direct and indirect impact on land use in the EU and globally. This report presents a methodology for the assessment of European Union (EU) policies in terms of their land-related implications in Europe and provides an initial testing of the methodology across key EU policies and two in-depth case studies, which focus on Cohesion Policy spending on transport in Poland and Spain.
Forests are rich in biodiversity and valuable for recreation, water regulation and soil protection. As well as for providing timber and other non-wood forest products, forests are important for mitigating climate change and for the renewable energy sector. Forest ecosystems are exposed to a range of environmental, economic and social pressures that challenge their sustainability. The forest sector is influenced by the unprecedented pressures arising from climate change and the growing demands of society on natural resources. The aim of this report is to assess the current state of forest ecosystems in Europe on the pathway to healthy, diverse, resilient and productive forests for the benefit of present and future generations.
In this report, we have explored the notion of soil as an integral part of ecosystems and natural capital, and thus focused on the stock of the soil resource and the flows of valuable goods and services that can be derived from this stock. The concept of natural capital recognises soil as an asset that is of use and benefit to society (also called a 'productive' asset). Putting soil within the framework of the land system allows a connection to be made with governance, including soil resource efficiency.
This report complements the findings shown in the "Trends and Projections in Europe 2015 - Tracking progress towards Europe's climate and energy targets" report with details about the 2013 renewable energy sources (RES) progress at EU and at country level, and for key RES technologies. Furthermore, it provides approximated estimates for RES development in 2014 and seeks to answer the following key questions: Which fossil energy sources were substituted by the growth of RES consumption since 2005 and what would have been their GHG emissions? How do European RES developments compare against renewable energy transformations occurring in other parts of the world?
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