Better links between waste management, circular economy and climate change mitigation measures can boost greenhouse gas emission reductions
Recycling, repair, re-use or reducing material consumption through circular business models can provide important additional reductions in greenhouse gas emissions helping to boost Europe’s climate change mitigation efforts, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today. The new EEA briefing found...
Costs of industrial pollution from largest facilities decline in Europe but remain at 2% of EU GDP
Air pollution from large European industry continues to cause significant damage to the environment, climate and people’s health. However, according to an updated analysis by the European Environment Agency (EEA), the cost of this pollution has declined by about a third during the past decade. Published today, the analysis...
Warming, acidification, dropping oxygen levels threaten Europe’s seas
Climate change’s triple impact on seas — warming waters, acidification and decreasing oxygen levels — are a major and increasing threat to Europe’s marine ecosystems. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published today, looks at main threats to Europe’s seas and points to key actions to improve the...
Urgent need to consider how to best use biomass in Europe
There are increasing and competing demands for using biomass in the EU, using it for bio-based products in sectors such as construction, energy, transport, furniture and textile industries, but also reserving it for nature conservation and carbon sequestration. The European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, stresses that...
Rethinking agriculture
While global food chains, market competition, industrial processes and increasing productivity have turned agriculture into a profitable economic sector, it is also one of the biggest contributors to environmental and sustainability challenges in Europe and worldwide. In tandem, the COVID-19 pandemic, recent geopolitical developments in...
Financing nature as a solution
Investments that focus on restoring nature and reversing biodiversity loss can minimise risks and reduce costs to businesses, society and the economy. They can also provide benefits. These include environmental services, such as improved pollination; a reduction in climate-related risks, such as flooding or urban heatwaves; and the...
Energy prosumers and cities
In an increasingly urbanised world, cities and municipalities play a key role in the energy transition and the decarbonisation of society. Prosumers (producer-consumers) of renewable energy can help to accelerate this transition in cities. This briefing builds on recent EEA work on prosumption by focusing on the challenges and...
GREENER, SMARTER FARMING THANKS TO AI
Boosting Europe’s AI capabilities will be key to delivering the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy, says Huawei’s EU Chief Rep Abraham Liu Making the EU’s Farm to Fork agenda for sustainable farming a success will require major investments in digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI). This was the message delivered...
Changing menus, changing landscapes — Agriculture and food in Europe
Most of the food we eat is produced on land and in soil. What we eat and how we produce it have changed significantly in the last century along with the European landscape and society. The intensification of agriculture has enabled Europe to produce more food and at more affordable prices but at the expense …...
When plastics fill our oceans
Our consumption and production patterns generate waste, a part of which ends up as litter in our oceans. Why is preventing marine litter important for the environment and the health of our seas in particular? What is Europe doing to prevent marine litter? We asked these questions to Constança Belchior, who works on marine assessments...
