Your quarterly update on Europe's Environment

European Environment Agency's Newsletter, Issue 01/2020, 20 March 2020

Editorial

Reflecting on climate-neutrality ambitions in Europe in times of Covid-19

"Europe, like the rest of the world, is facing an unprecedented public health crisis, quickly spreading across the continent. The first and foremost priority is to minimise the impacts on Europeans’ health and ensure the best possible provision of health services to those affected, followed by ensuring well-being, including jobs and livelihoods. ...

Without a fundamental transformation of our production and consumption systems, any emission reduction triggered by such economic crises is likely to be short-lived and come at an extremely high cost to society."

Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director

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The European Union is taking action on many fronts to address the Covid-19 pandemic together with authorities in Member States. To find out more on what the EU is doing, you may visit the European Commission's and the European Parliament's relevant pages.

Interview with EEA expert

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Noise pollution is a major problem, both for human health and the environment

"Twenty percent of Europe’s population are exposed to long-term noise levels that are harmful to their health. That corresponds to more than 100 million people within Europe. (...) We estimate that environmental noise contributes to 48,000 new cases of ischaemic heart disease a year as well as 12,000 premature deaths. 6.5 million people suffer chronic high sleep disturbance. As a result of aircraft noise we estimate that 12,500 school children suffer reading impairment in school."

Interview with Eulalia Peris, the EEA’s environmental noise expert.

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In the spotlight

Farming by Satellite Prize 2020 is open for applications

Registration is now open for young innovators to explore the use of satellite technologies in agriculture to enable sustainable farming practices, improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact. The Farming by Satellite Prize is a joint initiative of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) with the European Environment Agency (EEA) that also manages the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service and cross-service In Situ co-ordination.

Air quality

Biodiversity

Climate change

Dataset on CO2 intensity of electricity generation

Health and environment

Dataset on quiet areas in Europe

Energy

Industry

Data on the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR)

Land use

Datasets on start and length of vegetation growing season, on landscape fragmentation and on geospatial analytical reference layers

Transport

Water & marine environment

Changes in fish distribution in European seas
Use of freshwater resources
Water intensity of crop production
River floods

Datasets on EEA potential flood-prone area extent, HEAT+ Eutrophication Assessment Tool, WISE Water Accounts Spatial Units and database for Europe

Latest interactive maps

Climate change impacts in Europe

Linear trend in yearly vegetation productivity

Upcoming events

31 March 2020 - Public feedback on the EEA-Eionet Strategy closes

The European Environment Agency and the European Information and Observation Network are currently developing their joint strategy for 2021-2030. You can now read the draft and give us your feedback by 31 March 2020. Read more

1-5 June 2020 - EU Green Week, Lisbon and Brussels

The 2020 edition of Green Week will focus on biodiversity. The programme will include a series of sessions dedicated to the evaluation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. The EEA will present its work in this area. Read more

Throughout 2020 - SOER 2020 outreach events across Europe

The EEA and Eionet will be presenting the findings of SOER 2020 at various events across Europe during 2020. A regularly updated overview of planned SOER events can be accessed through our event calendar. Read more

Please note that events might be cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19. We suggest you regularly check event websites.

In case you missed - Latest EEA news

Citizen science projects on air quality produce useful information and raise public awareness

Member States must cut emissions across all sectors to achieve EU climate targets by 2030

Number of Europeans exposed to harmful noise pollution expected to increase

Healthy floodplains have a key role to play in improving our environment

Why does Europe need to limit climate change and adapt to its impacts?

European Union continues to phase-down its use of climate-warming fluorinated gases

Walking, cycling and public transport in cities remain greener mobility options than electric scooters or car ride-hailing

Improving circular economy practices in the construction sector key to increasing material reuse, high quality recycling

Renewables crucial for EU decarbonisation, but technology choices matter for air quality

EU launches new Forest Information System to improve knowledge on forests and woodlands

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