Published: Jun 27, 2012
Last modified: Jun 27, 2012 - At last week’s
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, delegates
did not agree to any ambitious treaties
or deadlines for dealing with pressing issues
such as climate change, food and water scarcity.
However, there were many positive signs
for the future global environment.
For the first time, governments recognised
the importance of green economy as well
as the need for knowledge and information.
This is good news, but it is only the start
– we need to turn this recognition into
real environmental improvements.
Jacqueline McGlade,
Executive Director of the EEA
On Friday 22 June, heads of state and government
signed an agreement on sustainable development
called ‘The Future We Want’. This was not
as ambitious as the EU had been pressing
for and did not include detailed Sustainable
Development Goals with fixed deadlines or
numbers. Nonetheless, the European Union
(EU) managed to get some goals into the
final text. It is hoped that these preliminary
targets will form the basis for further
negotiation within the UN.
On the proposal to make
the United Nations Environment Programme
a full UN organisation (in line with the
World Health Organisation and others) it
was instead agreed to strengthen UNEP. This
includes universal membership of UNEP –
meaning that all countries are now UNEP
members.
Another notable step
in the right direction was the adoption
of the global 10-year Framework of Programmes
on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
The UN failed to reach agreement in this
area in 2011.
The agreement also noted
the importance of ‘green economy’, an important
objective for EU negotiators during the
Rio+20 summit:
…we consider green economy
in the context of sustainable development
and poverty eradication as one of the important
tools available for achieving sustainable
development and that it could provide options
for policy making but should not be a rigid
set of rules (paragraph 56).
Jacqueline McGlade,
EEA Executive Director said: “For the first
time, governments recognised the importance
of green economy as well as the need for
knowledge and information. This is good
news, but it is only the start – we need
to turn this recognition into real environmental
improvements.”
The European Environment
Agency in Rio
During the Rio summit, the EEA successfully
pushed for the meeting to recognise the
importance of environmental data and information
and information sharing. Access to information
appears six times in the text. The EEA’s
ambitious information sharing network, Eye
on Earth, was also mentioned in the final
agreement (paragraph 274).
Eye on Earth was also
named as one of the Sustainia 100 global
sustainable solutions at a side event in
Rio on 20 June. The Sustainia 100 solutions
were presented at a ceremony attended by
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt,
sustainability legend Gro Harlem Brundtland,
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) Chair Rajendra K. Pachauri and EU
Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard.
+ More
Nitrogen oxide emissions
still a major problem in Europe
Published: Jun 28, 2012
Last modified: Jun 28, 2012 - Air pollution
emitted from sources such as traffic, industry
and households is still above internationally
agreed limits in many European countries,
according to data published today. The accompanying
report from the European Environment Agency
(EEA) confirms an initial assessment published
earlier this year, showing 12 EU Member
States exceeded limits under the National
Emissions Ceilings (NEC) Directive in 2010.
Under the NEC Directive, countries were
obliged, by 2010, to meet ‘ceilings’ for
four important air pollutants: nitrogen
oxides (NOX), non-methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOC), sulphur dioxide (SO2)
and ammonia (NH3). These pollutants are
harmful to both people and the environment,
causing respiratory illnesses, acidifying
soil and surface water, and damaging vegetation.
Since 2001, Member States
have been working towards meeting these
ceilings. Today’s publication of official
2010 data from Member States is the first
time that those efforts can be measured
against the legally binding targets. The
findings, based on official preliminary
data for 2010 reported by Member States,
confirm EEA’s early analysis made in February
2012. Final emissions data for 2010 will
be reported by countries at the end of this
year.
“All these pollutants
contribute to poor air quality, which damages
people’s health and the environment,” EEA
Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said.
“We should also note that 2010 was a recession
year in much of Europe. As emissions can
rebound during periods of economic recovery,
countries need to make positive efforts
to limit any increase of emissions in the
future.”
Key findings
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) limits were exceeded
most frequently, with 12 Member States failing
to keep emissions below agreed ceilings.
These were Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta,
the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
Road transport contributes approximately
40 % of total NOx emissions in the EU. Reductions
of NOX from this sector over the last two
decades have been lower than originally
anticipated, according to the report. This
is partly because transport has grown more
than expected, and partly because the real-world
emissions from diesel vehicles are higher
than those estimated when the vehicle emission
limit standards were set.
A lot of progress has
been made in reducing sulphur dioxide (SO2)
emissions in recent decades. SO2 emissions
in the EU were more than 40% below the EU’s
ceiling for this pollutant, and no Member
States exceeded their SO2 ceiling.
Spain was the only Member
State to report exceeding three of its four
emission ceilings (NOX, NMVOC, NH3), followed
by Germany (NOX, NMVOC) and Finland (NOX,
NH3) with two exceedances each.
The EU also has emissions
ceilings under the NEC Directive, one being
the sum of the individual Member States’
ceilings for each pollutant, while the second
is a stricter, specific ceiling for the
EU as a whole. Of these, the two EU ceilings
for NOx were both exceeded, albeit the first
by only a small margin.
Coming up…
During summer 2012, the EEA will publish
data presenting long term emission trends
of air pollutants within the EU’s annual
report to the Convention on Long Range Transboundary
Air Pollution (LRTAP). Later in the year
the EEA will also publish a separate analysis
showing to what extent the original objectives
in the NEC Directive – protecting human
health and environment – have been achieved.
The European Commission
is currently reviewing the European Union’s
air quality policy, and, amongst other initiatives,
is expected to propose a revised NEC Directive
in 2013 at the latest. A revised directive
will build on the findings of the policy
review and is likely to set objectives for
2020 and beyond for relevant air pollutants.
In the absence of new legislation, however,
the NEC Directive remains in force and requires
countries to keep emissions below national
ceilings in the years beyond 2010.
