Europäische Umweltagentur (EEA)

• Putting a value on nature
  [released on: 09/09/2010]
  The natural world provides many services that are essential for human existence and prosperity but because they’re free, we often don’t do enough to preserve them. The European Environment Agency today presents 35 initiatives compiled as part of the TEEB study, which are incorporating the economic value of ecosystem services.
• Europe's coasts: reconciling development and conservation
  [released on: 25/08/2010]
  Europe’s coastal zones are under increasing pressure from erosion, pollution, climate change, urbanisation and tourism. Such pressures threaten entire ecosystems — vital not only for wildlife but also for the economy and human well-being. The European Environment Agency (EEA) takes a closer look at the state of coastal ecosystems and policy responses to the pressures affecting them.
• Europe's mountains: rich in biodiversity but increasingly vulnerable
  [released on: 28/07/2010]
  Snow-capped peaks, rocky inclines, rich forests and sloping meadows provide recreation and economic opportunities for humans and a home to many plants and animals. The European Environment Agency's new assessment of mountain ecosystems sheds light on their state and the pressures they face.
• Emissions of sulphur oxides and ozone-forming pollutants fall significantly
  [released on: 12/07/2010]
  The European Union air pollutant emission inventory report compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that the EU-27 has cut sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions by 78 % since 1990. The decline was particularly sharp during the latest reporting year, falling 20 % in 2008 compared to 2007. The emissions of three ozone precursors — CO, NMVOCs and NOx — also continued the downward trend.
• How Europe's agriculture can boost biodiversity
  [released on: 30/06/2010]
  Intensive farming has long been a major cause of biodiversity decline in Europe. The European Environment Agency's (EEA) new short assessment examines Europe's efforts to strike a balance between producing sufficient food and maintaining agro-ecosystems that are rich in biodiversity above and below ground.
• Take a look at your water environment
  [released on: 23/06/2010]
  What are the nutrient levels in your coastal waters or nearby lake? Do you live in an area where urban waste water treatment fails to meet the EU requirements? The European Environment Agency (EEA) provides the answers through its interactive maps, which have been updated with new water quality data.
• EU bathing water quality remains high
  [released on: 10/06/2010]
  Clean bathing waters are vital for key economic sectors such as tourism and for plant and animal life. The annual bathing water report presented by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency shows that 96 % of coastal bathing areas and 90 % of bathing sites in rivers and lakes complied with minimum standards in 2009. It also describes where to obtain detailed and up-to-date information on bathing sites.
• Reconnect with Europe's nature on World Environment Day
  [released on: 04/06/2010]
  What is a bee to you? Or a mushroom that grows in parts of Finland? Do you consider yourself an apple connoisseur? A new series of biodiversity stories developed by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its Eionet partners can help us rediscover our connection with the natural world around us and understand why we urgently need to halt the loss of biodiversity.
• EU greenhouse gas emissions: more than half way to the '20 % target by 2020'
  [released on: 02/06/2010]
  The European Union's greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory report, compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA), shows that emissions have not only continued their downward trend in 2008, but have also picked up pace. The EU-27's emissions stood 11.3 % below their 1990 levels, while EU-15 achieved a reduction of 6.9 % compared to Kyoto base-year levels.
• BISE and baseline: new tools to combat biodiversity loss in Europe
  [released on: 01/06/2010]
  At the opening session of the Green Week conference in Brussels, the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) unveiled two new tools to combat biodiversity loss: BISE (the Biodiversity Information System for Europe) and 'Biodiversity baseline'. BISE is a web portal centralising information about European biodiversity in a single location. The baseline offers a comprehensive snapshot of the current state of biodiversity and will be used to monitor progress in the renewed efforts to halt biodiversity loss.
• EEA Annual management plan 2010
  [released on: 21/01/2010]
  
• Budget of the European Environment Agency for the financial year 2010
  [released on: 19/01/2010]
  
• Pharmaceuticals in the environment — Result of an EEA workshop
  [released on: 13/01/2010]
  A decade ago, the EEA and others first drew attention to the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals. Since then awareness has increased and research projects funded by the EU and others have expanded understanding of the use, exposure, fate, accumulation and impacts of pharmaceuticals in the environment. To help assess and disseminate the research findings to date, the EEA organised an expert workshop in January 2009. The workshop's conclusions, set out in the present report, highlight the need for action to improve further our understanding and management of risks.
• NEC Directive status report 2008
  [released on: 30/09/2009]
  The National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) sets pollutant-specific emission ceilings for each Member State of the European Union to be met by 2010. It also lays down the requirements for the Member States to compile and report information on past emissions, future emission projections and national actions being taken to control emissions of air pollutants. As part of these requirements, Member States shall prepare and annually update national emission inventories and emission projections for 2010 in respect of four important air pollutants: sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), and ammonia (NH3). This report presents the emissions and projections data reported by Member States in the 2008 reporting round under the NECD. A number of Member States have indicated they will not achieve at least one of their 2010 emission ceilings. At the aggregated European Community level, the 'with measures' projections reported by Member States imply that for some pollutants the aggregated EU-27 emission ceilings defined in Annex I and II of the NECD will also be exceeded. Only for SO2 and NH3 is the EU-27 likely to meet both the aggregated ceilings set in the NECD Annex I and II.
• EEA Briefing 3/2008 - Impacts of Europe's changing climate
  [released on: 28/01/2009]
  Global climate change is a reality. In Europe the most vulnerable regions are the Arctic, mountain areas, coastal zones and the Mediterranean. Key economic sectors, which will need to adapt include energy supply, health, water management, agriculture, forestry, tourism and transport.
• EEA Briefing 2/2008 - Ecosystem services - accounting for what matters
  [released on: 29/05/2008]
  Ecosystem and their services underpin our economic activities, quality of life and social cohesion, but environment, economy and society are unequal partners - for while there are environments without economies and societies, there are no economies and societies without environment.
• CSI 003 - Emissions of primary particles and secondary particulate matter precursors (version 2) - Assessment published Jan 2010
  [released on: 26/01/2010]
  Total emissions of primary particulate matter (PM10) and secondary particulate precursors (nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia (NH3)) have reduced by 45% across the EEA-32 region between 1990 and 2007. Of this reduction, 41% has taken place in the 'energy industries' sector due to the fuel-switching from coal to natural gas for electricity generation and improvements in the performance of pollution abatement equipment installed at industrial facilities. Emissions of primary PM10 particulate matter make only a small contribution to total particulate matter formation (12%) in 2007. The majority of particulate matter is formed from emissions of the secondary particulate precursors. Of the particulate-forming pollutants, reductions of SO2 that have taken place since 1990 have accounted for 60% of the overall reduction in particulate emissions, with NOx accounting for a further 30% of the observed reduction. The reduction in emissions of primary particles has accounted for only 6% of the overall reduction.
• CSI 002 - Emissions of ozone precursors (version 2) - Assessment published Jan 2010
  [released on: 26/01/2010]
  The aggregated emissions of ground-level ozone precursor pollutants (nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4)) have decreased by 39% across the EEA-32 region between 1990 and 2007. This decrease has been achieved mainly as a result of the introduction of catalytic converters for vehicles and to a lesser extent by a switch from petrol-fuelled cars to more diesel cars. Together these changes have significantly reduced emissions of NOx and CO from the road transport sector, the main source of ozone precursor emissions. The EU-27 is still some way from meeting its target to reduce emissions of two ozone precursors (NOx and NMVOC) for which emission limits exist under the NEC Directive. A number of individual Member States anticipate missing their ceilings for one or either of these two pollutants.
• Built-up areas, road network and population increases, selected EEA countries
  [released on: 30/06/2009]
  
• Changing household consumption patterns in EU-10 and EU-15
  [released on: 30/06/2009]
  
• Member States reporting (Art 7) under the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) Regulation
  [released on: 09/11/2009]
  The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) is a web-based register established by Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 which implements the UNECE PRTR Protocol, signed in May 2003 in Kiev.
• NATURILIS - Smoothed values of designated areas
  [released on: 04/11/2009]
  The NATURILIS version 1 dataset is an application of the CORILIS methodology on available geospatial data about designated areas.