Knowledge resources
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
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators correspondence with the Basic Set of Environment Statistics of the FDES 2013