THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT STATE AND OUTLOOK 2010

1. THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTSTATE AND OUTLOOK 2010 Thomas Henrichs European Environment Agency

2. About the European Environment Agency • The European Environment Agency: • is established by EEC regulation • - is an independent information provider • - is an analyst and assessor • - is building bridges between science and policy • - is dependent upon strong networks to carry out its work • … to support policy processes and inform the public

3. What is SOER 2010? Thematic assessments Country assessments Understanding climate change Country profiles Mitigating climate change National and regional stories Adapting to climate change Biodiversity Common environmental themes Land use Land use Land use Climate change mitigation Soil Soil Soil Land use Assessment of global megatrends Marine and coastal environment Marine and coastal environment Nature protection & biodiversity Consumption and environment Waste Material resources and waste Freshwater Social megatrends Water resources: quantity & flows Technological megatrends Air pollution Each EEA member country (32) and EEA cooperating country (6) assessed all six environmental themes above. Freshwater quality Economic megatrends Air pollution Environmental megatrends Urban environment Political megatrends

4. SOER 2010:geographical coverage Country assessments Country profiles National and regional stories Common environmental themes Climate change mitigation Land use Nature protection & biodiversity Waste Freshwater Air pollution Each EEA member country (32) and EEA cooperating country (6) assessed all six environmental themes above. * Kosovo under UNSCR 1244/99

5. SOER 2010 stresses a familiar message: there has been progress, but not enough ‘It appears that […] progress in reducing pressures on the state of the environment has remained largely insufficient – in spite of positive trends in some areas’ – SOER 1999 ‘Over the past 30 years, much has been done to improve Europe's environment. But major challenges remain for the future.’ – SOER 2005 ‘Environmental policy has delivered substantial improvements […] however, major environmental challenges remain which will have significant consequences […] if left unaddressed. ’ – SOER 2010

6. SOER 2010:thematic coverage The 13 thematic assessments can be clustered into four groups, in accordance with the EU’s 6th EAP (Environment Action Programme). Thematic assessments Understanding climate change Mitigating climate change Adapting to climate change Biodiversity Land use Land use Land use Soil Soil Soil Marine and coastal environment Marine and coastal environment Climate change Consumption and environment Material resources and waste Nature & biodiversity Water resources: quantity & flows Natural resources & wastes Freshwater quality Air pollution Environment, health & quality of life Urban environment

7. Climate change

8. Climate change

9. Climate change • In 2009, EU-27 greenhouse gas emissions were 17.3 % below the 1990 level • World greenhouse gas emission cuts are not enough to stop average global temperatures rising by more than 2°C • The decade 2000–2009 was the warmest on record; the temperature in Europe has risen more than the global average • Global temperatures are expected to increase this century by at least 0.6°C due to past emissions

10. Nature and biodiversity

11. Nature and biodiversity

12. Nature and biodiversity • The Natura 2000 network now covers 18 % of EU territory; knowledge about the status of biodiversity has greatly improved • The rate of biodiversity loss is decreasing in Europe, but the EU will fail to meet its target of halting the loss by 2010 • 52 % of target species under the Habitats Directive have an unfavourable status and the status of 31 % is unknown • More than 10 000 non-native species are present in Europe and 10–15 % have negative economic or ecological effects

13. Natural resources and waste

14. Natural resources and waste

15. Natural resources and waste • There has been partial decoupling of both resource use and waste generation from economic growth in recent years • Recycling of municipal waste in the EU-27 avoided some 47 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions in 2008 • EU-12 resource use increased by 34 % in the period2000–2007 • More than 20 % of resources used in Europe are imported, notably fuels and mining products

16. Environment, health and quality of life

17. Environment, health and quality of life

18. Environment, health and quality of life • Europe has significantly cut emissions of key air pollutants, greatly reducing exposure to sulphur dioxide and lead • In the EEA-32, the area of sensitive ecosystems exposed to excess acidification from air pollution fell by 80 % in 1990–2010 • Fine particle pollution (PM2.5) is estimated to cause some 5 million lost years of life annually in the EEA-32 countries • Agriculture contributes 50–80 % of the nitrogen load in Europe’s freshwater, leading to poorer water quality

19. Links between environmental challenges

20. Links between environmental challenges

21. Links between environmental challenges These links highlight that how and where we use natural capital and ecosystem services matters. Global megatrends bring addi-tional risks and uncertainties -- many outside Europe’s control

22. Future environmental priorities: some reflections

23. Future environmental priorities: some reflections • Better implementation and further strengthening of current environmental priorities • Coherent integration of environmental consideration across the many sectoral policy domains • Dedicated management of natural capital and ecosystem services (and increasing resource efficiency and resilience) • Transformation to a green economy that addresses the long-term viability of natural capital within Europe and beyond

24. Thank you