Environmental Indicator Report 2012

1. Environmental Indicator Report 2012 Meeting on Environmental Assessments 16-17 April 2013

2. [2] Our state of environment report (SOER 2010) stresses a familiar message: there has been progress, but not enough ‘Environmental policy has delivered substantial improvements […] however, major environmental challenges remainwhich will have significant consequences […] if left unaddressed.’ Source: SOER 2010 ‘What differs […] is an enhanced understanding of the linksbetween environmental challenges and with unprecedented global megatrends. This has allowed a deeper appreciation of the human-made systemic risksand […] insight into the shortcomings of governance.’ Source: SOER 2010

3. [3] Over time, our understanding of environmental challenges and their underlying causes has evolved Source: SOER 2010

4. [4] SOER 2010 offers reflections on future environmental priorities - four ‘I‘ provide headings for strategic action Implementation Better implementation and further strengthening of current environmental priorities Integration Coherent integration of environmental consideration across the many sectoral policy domains Inter-linkages Dedicated management of natural capital and ecosystem services (increasing resource efficiency and resilience) • International dimension • Transform to a green economy to manage natural capital sustainably within Europe … and beyond

5. [5] At the core of a green economy is a dual challenge: improving resource efficiency and ensuring resilience Ecosystem(natural capital) goal: ensure ecological resilience Economy (produced capital) goal: improve resource efficiency Human well-being (social and human capital) goal: enhance social equity and fair burden-sharing GREENECONOMY

6. [6] What do we mean by ecosystem resilience? • The capacity of an ecosystem to tolerate disturbance without collapsing into a • (qualitatively) different state. • The notion of ecosystem resilience builds on • capacity to resist change, • ability to retain on structure and function despite change, • ability to reorganise following disturbance. • Concept of ecosystem resilience can be linked with discussion about environmental state, global tipping points, planetary boundaries. Ecosystem(natural capital) goal: ensure ecosystem resilience

7. [7] What do we mean by resource efficiency? Simply put, resource efficiency compares resource inputs to economic outputs. The EU aims to be a resource efficient economy that ‘is competitive, inclusive and provides a high standard of living with much lower environmental impacts‘. Concept of improving resource efficiency is linked to environmental pressuresand ‘decoupling‘ of economy growth. Economy (produced capital) goal: improve resource efficiency

8. The European Environment Agency (EEA) provides objective, reliable and comparable information One of key tasks of the EEA is ‘to publish a report on the state of, trends in and prospects for the environment every five years, supplemented by indicator reports focusing on specific issues’. (Regulation (EC) No 401/2009, Art 2(k)) .EEA hosts more than 200 environmental indicators across 12 environmental themes. Energy indicators(29 / 5 CSI) Transport indicators(38 / 3 CSI) Climate change indcators (42+4 / 5 CSI) Biodiversity indicators (25+2 / 3 CSI) Waste indicators(2 / 2 CSI) EEA core indicators (37 CSI) Air pollution indicators (6+5 / 5 CSI) Water indicators (7+7 / 7 CSI) Fisheries indicators (3 / 3 CSI) Agriculture indicators (2 / 2 CSI) Land & Soil indicators (2/ 2 CSI) Environmental scenarios indicators (45 / 0 CSI) Tourism indicators(7 / 0 CSI) Based on Monitoring->Data->Indicators->Assessment->Knowledge chain .

9. [8] Environmental indicator report 2012 shows progress in meeting dual challenge (resilience & resource efficiency) • Assessment based on existing environmental indicators;no new ‘green economy‘ indicators have been developed. • Pressure indicators to illustrate resource efficiency; State indicators to illustrate ecosystem resilience. • Six thematic indicator-based assessments: • Nitrogen emissios and threats to biodiversity • Carbon emissions and climate change • Air pollution and air quality • Maritime activties and the marine environment • Water use and water stress • Use of material resources and waste management D R P I S

10. [9] Examples from environmental indicator report 2012- Chapter 5 (carbon emissions and climate change) Carbon and climate Sector: Renewable energy [ENER 29] State: Average temperature [CSI 012] Pressure: GHG emissions [CSI 010]  

11. [10] Summing up: environmental ‘pressure‘ indicators to illustrate progress in improving resource efficiency

12. [11] Summing up: environmental ‘state‘ indicators to illustrate whether we are ensuring ecosystem resilience Links between environmental challenges & global context- indicators related to status / ecological resilience

13. [12] Reflections on progress towards resource efficiency, ecosystem resilience and a green economy in Europe • By and large, European environmental policies appear to have had a clearer impact on improving resource efficiency than on maintaining ecosystem resilience. • Environmental indicators highlight that improving resource efficiency remains necessary, but in itself isnot sufficient to ensure a sustainable natural environment. • In a green economy policy context, there would be value in considering objectives and targets that more explicitly recognise the links between resource efficiency, ecosystem resilience and human well-being.

14. Ecosystem(natural capital) goal: ensure ecosystem resilience Economy (produced capital) goal: improve resource efficiency Thank you adriana.gheorghe@eea.europa.euFor further information, please visit: www.eea.europa.eu Human well-being (social and human capital) goal: enhance social equity and fair burden-sharing GREENECONOMY