Published: 16 Sep 2008
- Transport remains a major and growing
source of greenhouse gas emissions, which
cause climate change. During the European
Mobility Week between
16-22 September, more than a thousand cities
across Europe will promote sustainable transport
in urban areas and let their residents enjoy
a car-free day.
To enable the EU to
meet future emission reduction targets by
2020, the transport sector must improve
its environmental performance. Had the transport
sector emissions followed the same reduction
trend as in society as a whole, total EU-27
greenhouse gas emissions during the period
11000-2005 would have fallen by 14% instead
of 7.9%.
Small tips to make a differenceGet in shape
and be friendly to the environment all at
once!
Journeys of less than 3 km may take less
time if you walk, use a bike or even take
the bus. If taking your kids along, try
using a skateboard, skipping rope or rollerblades!
Remember how much fun it was when you were
a kid.
Car pool!
If you live far away from school, instead
of driving your kids to and from school
each day, start a car pooling initiative
with the other parents and share the responsibility.
It will save you time, petrol and help the
environment.
Keep your tyres properly
inflated.
This will reduce wear
and tear on them and increase their longevity,
thereby saving money. It also saves precious
raw material: it takes 27 litres of crude
oil to produce a new tire. Under-inflated
tyres also increase fuel consumption by
up to 10%. Check your tyres at least once
a month. It just takes a few minutes.
Slow down!
When driving your car, drive steadily and
anticipate what is coming up. Avoid rapid
accelerations and breaking as much as possible.
This will decrease your car’s fuel consumption.
+ More
Kopernikus to take environmental
monitoring one step further
Published: 16 Sep 2008
- The Global Monitoring for Environment
and Security (GMES) initiative is today
being re-launched under a new name: Kopernikus.
To mark the start of its pre-operational
phase, a major Conference on this initiative
is taking place under the French Presidency
of the EU at Lille. Kopernikus will contribute
to the better collection and dissemination
of environmental data, core tasks of the
European Environment Agency (EEA).
Comprehensive, accurate
and timely information is essential for
action to protect and improve the environment.
Since the 11000s, Europe has been working
on integrating, through GMES, the environmental
data obtained from satellite observation
and terrestrial monitoring with analysis
to deliver information services to public
authorities, businesses and citizens. Alongside
SEIS (Shared Environmental Information System)
and INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial
Information), Kopernikus aims at improving
environmental information in response to
new pressures, such as responding to climate
change, meeting increasing expectations
from citizens and the growing interdependence
of social economic and environmental factors.
The EEA will be a key
partner in Kopernikus and expects to make
a big contribution to its effective operation,
particularly in facilitating the provision
of non-space data to the services. The Agency
has been engaged from the start in the design
and operation of the information services
to be provided under Kopernikus. These services
will cover land, marine environment, atmosphere
and emergencies.
The long-term development of the Kopernikus
initiative will be outlined in a communication
by the European Commission later this year.
EEA will help to address the major challenges
that remain in moving from a research-based
initiative to sustainable service provision.
