1. Strengthen the regular updating and production of high quality comparable environmental indicators, within the framework of SEIS and the UNECE set of environmental indicators, so that the Eastern Partnership countries are better able to respond to international indicator-based reporting obligations, including towards monitoring the SDGs, UN /UNECE conventions, and contribute to the “Environment for Europe” process (9 th Ministerial conference Nov 2021)

• Biannual state of play the trends of the progress of availability and accessibility online the regional environmental indicators in the six Eastern Partnership countries. Online tool tracks the indicators accessibility with the contribution of the National Focal Points and National Assistants.

• Template of the environmental indicator was developed to structure and build the environmental indicator according to international standards, incorporating conceptual and structural elements from UN FDES, UNECE Recommendations, EU Environmental Indicator Catalogue including relevant data flows, metadata, etc.

• Guidance on Catalogue of Environmental Indicators for the Eastern Partnership countries was produced and proposed for national use and support the comparability and compatibility with the international and EU standards (based on the UN FDES and the methodology of the European Environmental indicators Catalogue).

2. Collaboration with UNECE, UNEP, and other partners, produce and share environmental data and indicators that are compliant with international standards and formats that they agreed upon in the UNECE Working Group on Environmental Monitoring (WGEMA) and Assessments and UNECE Joint Task Force on Environmental Statistics and Indicators (JTF).

• Review and update of the UNECE environmental indicators streamlining of state-of-the-environment reporting, SDG reporting and the production of the UNECE set of environmental indicators in the Eastern Partnership countries

• Participation of Eastern Partnership countries in the UNECE events to develop their institutional capacities on environmental reporting (18/19th Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment session and the 13/14/15th Joint Task Force sessions and 4/5 Seminars on SEEA).

3. Support the regular reporting process on the environment in the Eastern Partnership countries according to international standards, incorporating conceptual and structural elements from the SOER2015 model and available tools of the EEA and Eionet best practices to produce the environmental assessment reports (state-of-the-environment reports, indicator-based assessments and thematic assessments) and contribute to the “Environment for Europe” process (9 th Ministerial conference Nov 2021) in a sustainable way.

• Biannual state of play the trends of the progress of availability and accessibility online the environmental assessment reports in the six Eastern Partnership countries. Online tool tracks the accessibility of the reports with the contribution of the National Focal Points and National Assistants.

• Study of the effectiveness and relevance for policymaking and public information of recent environmental assessments in the Eastern Partnership countries. The results are summarised into the six-country and regional synthesis working papers. They are the basis for building road maps and strategies to develop further the environmental reporting process in the region and six eastern countries.

• Survey “SOER 2020 one-pager” to collect facts and figures on the National State of environment report and additional information from the six eastern countries for analysis of their regularity and periodicity of the SOER production according to their national legislation, regulation and administrative control.

• Suite of derived analytical products of different natures for the six eastern countries were developed and published such as the Country Briefings on the State of the Environment Report, the regional Brochure on the environment, thematic leaflets for policymaking and awareness-raising.

4. Methodological support in the production of the environmental assessment reports and indicator-based assessments aligned with the European best practices, methods, and tools. The Guideline and Template for the preparation of governmental reports on the state of the environment have been developed to strengthen the national reporting process at the country level. The guiding report is in digital and interactive formats.

5. Transfer of EEA and EU know-how on environmental reporting via vocational training with the EEAcademy ENI Summer Schools and Eionet partners in using policy-relevant and knowledge-based analytical tools. Didactic materials for the training have been developed.

6. Creation of the networks of experts in environmental assessments and accounting. These experts are involved in project activities and their implementation at the country level. They are targeted by vocational training.

7. Regional events and country visits presenting key findings, good practices, and hand-on data for in-depth training on SOER and indicators to ensure regular production and regularity in environmental reporting.

8. Visualization and popularisation of project activities on environmental assessments and indicators were published and presented in various communication products and platforms.

• UNSD News Letter Issue 43, Issue 44, issue 46.

• EEAcademy Summer School ENI SEIS on Integrated Environmental assessments released a Video produced with support from COM.

• Participation in the UNECE WGEMA and UNECE JTFEIS events.

• Dedicated web site page that has a knowledge repository to visualize environmental assessments and indicators activities with continuous updates.

• These activities were featured in the project’s newsletters and thematic leaflets with the support from the communication officer.

• Events
• Products

European Environment Agency

An environmental assessment is the assessment of the positive and negative environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or concrete projects before deciding to take action. EEA assessments present key information and/or an integrated assessment of the state of the environment, its pressures, driving forces and societal responses. The European Environment Agency (EEA) publishes a report on the state of, trends in and prospects for the European environment every five years. The EEA produced six state of the environment reports  (SOER) in 1995, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020.  

SOER 2020 is the 6th SOER published by the EEA since 1995. It offers solid, science-based insights on how we must respond to the huge and complex challenges we face, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and air and water pollution.

SOER 2020 has been prepared in close collaboration with the EEA’s European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet). The report draws on the Eionet’s vast expertise of leading experts and scientists in the environmental field, across the EEA’s 33 member countries and six cooperating countries.

Environmental indicators are tools for assessing environmental trends, checking progress against objectives and targets, evaluating policy effectiveness and communicating complex phenomena. The EEA Indicators answer key policy questions and support environmental policy making, in designing policy frameworks, setting targets, monitoring, evaluating and communicating policy. The EEA publishes a wide range of assessments based on indicators reports: SOER, signals, factsheets and country profiles.

The EEA's Indicator Management System (IMS)  contains 123 indicators, covering 22 environmental topics. EEA indicators in relation to D-P-S-I-R are (79%) Descriptive type, Pressure type (28%) and Impact type (26%).

The Core Set of Indicators (CSI),  prioritises improvements in the quality and coverage of data flows, streamlines contributions to international indicator initiatives, and provides a basis for indicator-based assessments of environmental policy priorities. Many of the core set indicators used in international indicator processes, notably at the European Commission, OECD, WHO and UNECE. The set is often used as a model for indicator sets at country level.  

The European Environment Agency maintenance of indicators includes definitions of the thematic sets.  A comprehensive guide to EEA indicators “Digest of EEA indicators 2014” explains 'what we have, why we have it, and how it can be used' and places indicators in the landscape of European environmental indicators. 

UNECE

UNECE has developed a list of environmental indicators in collaboration with the Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (WGEMA) and the Joint Task Force on Environmental Statistics and Indicators (JTF). In June 2007, the Working Group and Joint Task Force agreed on a list of environmental indicators under the thematic areas here. 

The UNECE Joint Task Force on Environmental Statistics and Indicators revised the Guidelines for the Application of Environmental Indicators in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe and compiled an online version of the Guidelines, with indicator's description, production table and glossary of terms. 

Library:

•  Eurostat: Communicating through indicators

•  Eurostat: Environmental Indicators Catalogue

•  UNSD Basic set of environment statistics

•  UNECE: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

•  The EEA Core Set of Indicators (CSI)

•  UNECE Online Guidelines for the Application of Environmental Indicators

•  Kyiv SOE guidelines EN // Kyiv SOE guidelines RU

The work is implemented by European Environment Agency jointly under contracts with the Eionet partners such as the Slovak Environment Agency (SEA), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the PBL Netherlands, the UNECE Environment, and Statistics Divisions.