The aim of the consultation is to gather input and ideas for a proposal for a Council Recommendation on education for environmental sustainability, to be adopted by the Commission in late 2021. Are learners in Europe being equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to act on the climate emergency and biodiversity loss? Are […]
Use of antibiotics in animals is decreasing
Use of antibiotics has decreased and is now lower in food-producing animals than in humans, says the latest report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Taking a One Health approach, the report from the three EU agencies presents data on […]
Average car emissions kept increasing in 2019, final data show
Average emissions from new passenger cars in Europe increased for the third consecutive year in 2019, reaching 122.3 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (g CO2/km), according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) final data. Data about newly registered vans show a stable trend. New EEA data set baseline for emission reductions in heavy-duty vehicles. The EEA […]
COVID-19 in Europe: increased pollution from masks, gloves and other single-use plastics
The coronavirus pandemic has challenged European societies in many ways. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) briefing, published yesterday, analyses the pandemic’s effect on the use of certain single-use plastics products, which cause greenhouse gas and other emissions and can end up littering the environment. It also brings useful lessons to improve our response to future […]
Antimicrobial resistance and the food production environment: sources and control options
Fertilisers of faecal origin, irrigation, and water are the most significant sources of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in plant-based food and/or aquaculture. In terrestrial animal production, potential sources are feed, humans, water, air or dust, soil, wildlife, rodents, arthropods, and equipment, says EFSA. For the first time, EFSA experts have assessed the role of food producing environments in […]
CJEU Judgment: Germany systematically and persistently exceeded limit values for nitrogen dioxide between 2010 and 2016
By this judgment, the Court of Justice held that Germany had infringed the Air Quality Directive by systematically and persistently exceeding, as from 1 January 2010 up to and including 2016, the annual limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 26 of the 89 zones and agglomerations assessed. The infringement concerns the agglomeration of Berlin, […]
Spain wins the Environment category of the LIFE Awards
The three winners of the LIFE 2021 awards, which recognise the most innovative, inspiring and effective projects funded by the European Commission’s LIFE programme, were announced on 2 June. This year, a project from the Balearic Islands was the winner in the Environment category. Slovakia won in the Nature category and France in the Climate […]
EEA’s latest annual environmental performance report shows lower impacts on environment due to the pandemic
The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) latest environmental performance evaluation, published today, shows that the Agency’s work and operations in 2020 led to considerably lower impacts on the environment due mostly to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation showed substantially lower consumption of electricity, paper and lower CO2 emissions from business travel and meetings, keeping the […]
Independent national advisory bodies can reinforce the role of science in climate policy
Efforts in tackling climate change at national level across Europe can be made more effective by robust governance frameworks as well as well-functioning, well-resourced advisory bodies. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing published today analyses the institutional settings for climate policy making at the national level in Europe, the role played by advisory bodies in […]