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Development of Terrestrial Environment Indicators at the EEA

This seminar discusses the main objectives of the European Environment Agency (EEA), the role of the European Topic Centres (ETCs) and the development of indicators for the terrestrial environment. It also highlights the importance of geographical information in the EEA's information system.

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Development of Terrestrial Environment Indicators at the EEA

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  1. ESPON SEMINAR21-22 November 2002Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg Development of Terrestrial Environment Indicators at the EEA Jean-Louis Weber

  2. EEA : the European Environment Agency “The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy making agents and the public”

  3. Main objectives of the EEA 1/2 • To assist the European Community and member countries to: • identify, frame, prepare and implement sound and effective environmental policy measures and legislation • monitor, evaluate and assess actual and expected progress in the implementation and results of such measures.

  4. EU legislation EU SDS Support to the policy process : the EEA policy constellation EC’s 6th Environment Action Prog. National legislation Non-member country activities EC’c 6th research FP EEA International legislation Sectoral integration International Organisations activities

  5. Main objectives of the EEA 2/2 • To establish and coordinate the European environment information and observation network (EIONET), based on an information infrastructure for the collection, analysis, assessment and management of data shared with European Commission services, EEA member countries and international organisations, agreements and conventions.

  6. The EEA relies on EIONET, the network of national organisations, co-ordinated by NFPs …

  7. What is EIONET? Network of organisations and Individuals with information and expertise of relevance to EEA’s Work Programme Telematics network based on Internet technology to enable communications and data flows between partners

  8. Elements of the European Environment Information and Observation NETwork (EIONET) ETC ETC ETC ETC EEA ETC NFPs NRCs MCEs European Topic Centres National Focal Points National Reference Centres Main Component Elements

  9. Role of the National Focal Points • Coordinate Member State Input to EEA Work Programme • Support Management Board Member • Build Telematics Network in Member State • Coordinate data flows to ETCs and for EEA Reports • Motivate NRCs and MCEs

  10. Role of the European Topic Centres • Work under EEA subvention • Co-ordinate topical networks of NRCs • Deliver reports, databases • Improve comparability • Advise on data gaps • May support DG ENV when EEA requested • Represent EEA in various fora

  11. 5 European Topic Centers ETC on TerrestrialEnvironment ETC Waste and Material Flows ETC Air and Climate Change ETC Nature Protection and Biodiversity ETC Continental and maritime water

  12. Partners and structure Lead organisation:

  13. CoastalEnvironment Soil Terrestrial Environment T.E. CONCEPT: an integrated approach Urban… Land Rural…

  14. EIONET ETC TE topic databases Sea Conventions CLC 2000 Soil Coastal units Eurostat/ GISCO JRC... TERRIS Other ETCs Water Waste Nature Air Core set of TE indicators Integrated Environmental Assessment Reporting Setting up the EEA information systemon Terrestrial Environment

  15. Setting up the EEA information systemon Terrestrial Environment • Data collection: e.g. CLC2000 • Indicators development: the EEA core set process and the terrestrial environment indicators • Integrated assessment: e.g. DPSIR and Land & Ecosystems Accounts Conclusion : Importance of the geographical information in the environmental information system

  16. Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment: 1. Data collection: CLC2000

  17. Main characteristics of Corine Land Cover (CLC) • Mapping scale 1:100 000, resolution 100 m • Nomenclature: 44 classes • Minimum mapping 25 ha • Land cover changes >5 ha • Geometric accuracy: • image data: < 25 m • land cover data: < 100 m • Thematic accuracy: > 90 % • Updating frequency: every 10 year

  18. IMAGE2000 CLC2000 Decentralised activity based on national teams Centralised activity CORINE land cover update, year 2000 EIONET National Reference Centres Land Cover contracts EO Industry (SSC, GISAT)

  19. CLC2000 in progress • National inventories to be finalised by Dec. 2003 • Co-financing of the programme by COM & Member States • Accession Countries participating on the same basis • Data will be disseminated for free for non-commercial use (e.g. ESPON…) • Commercial use: pricing up to each country

  20. Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment: 2.Indicators development: the EEA « core set » process and the terrestrial environment indicators

  21. Reporting obligations • Legal = Compliance data • Assessment of the implementation of the regulations by the Member states • Don’t necessarily inform on state, trends, effectiveness of policies • Moral = the reporting on state & trends • Multiple clients • Multiple data flows

  22. The present situation and the need to streamline the process The Public and Decision-Makers The Public and Decision-Makers Eurostat EC EC EEA EEA OECD OECD UNEP UNEP DG DG ETC ETC DG DG National Institutions

  23. The approach of the EEA, based on indicators • One EEA Core Set of Indicators • Covering Environmental Issues and Sectors • Refering to Policies • Shared with EIONET, the Commission and International Organisations, • Maintained on the WEB (Reportnet), • Accessible to the Public(s) on the WEB • Used as a Resource for various EEA Reports

  24. Emissions of ozone precursors, EU15 relevant policy questions indicators distance to target analysis target accountability of policy makers/ environmental managers Why indicators? Accountability!

  25. Why indicators? Communication! Environmental Headline Indicators Keys  Good progresstowards meeting objective, improvement  No significant change, static Movement away from objective, declining ? Insufficient data

  26. relevant policy questions indicators country comparison benchmarking dissemination of best experiences Why indicators? Benchmarking! Transport CO2 emissions: % change 1990-1999

  27. Why indicators ? Answering the policy questions • Environmental issues (clean air, climate change, good water, healthy ecosystems…) • Integration of environmental concerns in sector policies (transport, agriculture, energy, tourism…) • Sustainable development reporting

  28. 4 basic policy questions • Type A: “What is happening?” Environmental state and quality • Type B: “Does it matter?” Performance indicators • Type C: “Are we improving our processes?” Eco-efficiency indicators • Type D: "Are policies working?" Measure of policy effectiveness

  29. society economy sustainability indicators sustainability indicators EU Indicator architecture Environmental issue indicators Sectoral indicators ca 100 n x 30 development env. integration process policy Environment headline indicators 10+? progress sustainability to assessment global

  30. THE EEA CORE SET OF INDICATORS

  31. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT MAIN POLICY ISSUES Regional Policy and Sustainable Land Use Urban Environment Coast Protection and Integrated Management Soils Protection and Sustainable Use Terrestrial Dimension of Specific Environmental Issues Sector Policies and Sustainable Land Use

  32. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTSPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (1) Regional Policy and Sustainable Land Use REG1 State and changes of land use and land cover patterns in Europe REG2 Environmental dimension of the European spatial integration REG3 Environmental dimension of rural and urban interaction

  33. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTSPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (2) Urban Environment URB1 Sustainable use of land by urban systems URB2 Citizen access to nearby public open areas: green areas URB3 Local mobility and passenger transportation: trips, time & distance URB4 Noise pollution in urban areas

  34. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTSPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (3) Coast Protection and Integrated Management COAST1 Sustainability of the coastal development COAST2 Water and waste management in coastal zones COAST3 Impact of land use on coastal biodiversity COAST4 Coastal erosion COAST5 Risks to the coastal zones

  35. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTSPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (4) Soils Protection and Sustainable Use SOIL1 Soil erosion SOIL2 Decline in organic matter in soil SOIL3 Diffuse soil contamination SOIL4 Local soil contamination SOIL5 Soil sealing SOIL6 Other threats to soil

  36. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTSPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (5) Terrestrial Dimension of Specific Environmental Issues WATR River basin management BIODV Spatial dimension of biodiversity conservation CLIM Impact of land use on climate changes RISK Spatial analysis of risks to human health & the environment

  37. CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTSPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (6) Sector Policies and Sustainable Land Use TRAN Transport impact on the environmental landscape TOUR Tourism impact on the environmental landscape AGRI1 Agriculture impact on the environmental landscape AGRI2 Agriculture sustainable use of soil FORST Spatial dimension of the sustainable development of the forests

  38. Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment: 3. Integrated assessment: e.g. DPSIR, Land & Ecosystems Accounts

  39. Reminder : • An indicator is a dataset which tells something = is more than the dataset itself • An indicator tells about interactions, causes and effects

  40. The story : DPSIR Environment & Sectors Policies, Participation… Responses Economic & Social Drivers Driving Forces Pollutants Resource use Land use Pressures Impact Health of ecosystems, population, economy State Quality Natural resources

  41. The story: Land and Ecosystems Accounts • Previous experiences : • UN-ECE working group on physical environment accounts, • Eurostat, • France, Great-Britain, Germany, Chile • SEEA Chapter « Land and Ecosystems Accounts » • Common project EEA-ETCTE-Eurostat, based on CLC • Test areas : • The coastal zones of Europe • 4 PHARE countries

  42. Conceptual basis of stock & flow accounts (after Haines-Young) Opening balance Closing balance Flow account Rows of table define structure of _ + / world in terms of Indicators elements of natural capital Columns define process which affect row elements

  43. Land & Ecosystem Accounting • Basic Accounts, common for all, describing land use and land cover changes • « Supplementary Accounts » targetted to priority poicy issues; specific but connected with the Basic Accounts • A set of nomenclature for bridging with the National Accounts • Spatial Analysis: Analytical and Reporting Units, Landscape Types

  44. Structure of the basic set of land cover/land use accounts(SEEA 2000 - Figure 8.7)

  45. Illustration : Great Britain,Land cover Account based on the CountrysideSurvey

  46. Lowland landscapes dominated by arable Lowland landscapes dominated by pasture Marginal upland landscapes Upland landscapes Illustration: The Four Major Landscape Types used for the Geographical Disaggregation of the Environmental Accounts in Great Britain (Haines-Young after Barr et al 1993)

  47. Map of dominant Land Cover types of Europe as a possible (?) basis for land and ecosystems accounts

  48. Conclusion Importance of the geographical information in the environmental information system

  49. Needs of spatial data for the EEA indicators - Provisional NUTS (103) Indicators Spatial dataset CLC (82)

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