Environmental Indicator Report 2012
Ecosystems Resilience and Resource Efficiency in a Green Economy in Europe
Reliable, relevant, targeted and timely environmental information is an essential element in implementing environmental policy and management processes. Such information can come in many formats - with indicators being a long-established approach to distilling detailed information into trends that are robust and easily understandable by a broad audience.
The 'Environmental indicator report 2012' presents established indicators that illustrate progress towards improving resource efficiency, and indicators that depict the risk of passing environmental thresholds. Jointly, they enable policymakers and the public to reflect on where Europe stands vis-à-vis some aspects of a green economy.
Several of the indicators presented in this report show encouraging trends, while others point to issues that require urgent attention.
The following six environmental themes are discussed:
- Carbon emissions and climate change: Domestic greenhouse gas emissions have decreased substantially across the European Union but continue to rise on the global level. Rising temperatures threaten ecosystem resilience.
- Nitrogen emissions and threats to biodiversity
- Air pollution and air quality
- The marine environment
- Stress on water resources
- Use of material resources
Source: Source: European Environment Agency EEA [1]