The amount of ‘super-greenhouse’ hydrofluorocarbon gases (HFCs) placed on the EU market remained below the limit allowed under regulations for the third consecutive year, according to the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases 2019 report of the European Environment Agency (EEA Report No 20/2019). The EEA data report that HFC consumption fell 38% in the EU in 2018,… [Read more]
European Environment Agency’s state of environment report outlines the scale and urgency of environmental challenges facing Europe
Early December 2019 the European Environment Agency (EEA) launched its State of the Environment Report 2020, “European Environment — state and outlook report” (SOER 2020). The report provides an overview of the state of Europe’s environment. It highlights that Europe faces environmental challenges of unprecedented scale and urgency and that, while European environment and climate… [Read more]
Private consumption: Textiles EU’s fourth largest cause of environmental pressures after food, housing, transport
Consumption of clothing, footwear and household textiles in the European Union (EU) uses annually about 1.3 tonnes of raw materials and more than 100 cubic metres of water per person, according to a European Environment Agency briefing. A wide-scale change towards circular economy in textiles production and consumption is needed to reduce its greenhouse gas… [Read more]
Climate change: Significant drop in EU emissions in 2018 but further effort needed to reach 2030 target
The European Union (EU) cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2 % in 2018, according to preliminary estimates released today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). However, rising energy consumption continues to hamper progress on the share of energy generated by renewable sources and on energy efficiency. As in previous years, the transport sector… [Read more]
Cutting air pollution in Europe would prevent early deaths, improve productivity and curb climate change, according to EEA
Europe’s air is getting cleaner but persistent pollution, especially in cities, still damages people’s health and the economy. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new analysis on air quality shows that exposure to air pollution caused about 400,000 premature deaths in the European Union (EU) in 2016. The EEA’s ‘Air quality in Europe — 2019 report’… [Read more]
EEA: “Europe’s circular economy still in its infancy”
Circular material use can minimise waste and resource extraction, improve resource efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to conserving biodiversity. However, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report, circular economy initiatives in Europe are still at an early stage and would benefit from more investments in upscaling promising innovations and in monitoring progress… [Read more]