Published:
03 Jun 2008 - 'Europe's citizens represent
only 7 % of Earth's total population, but
consume 15 % of the world's energy, 15 %
of the meat production and 24 % of the paper
produced in the planet', said Professor
Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of
the European Environment Agency (EEA), speaking
at the opening of Green Week in Brussels
this afternoon.
'Household consumption
expenditures in EU-25 increased by 25 %
during the last 15 years' explained Professor
McGlade, 'while Europeans spend more and
more on transport and communication, housing,
recreation, health and education. We must
tame this Goliath of ever increasing consumption'.
Reports by the EEA and the European Commission
show that food and drink, housing (including
energy use and construction), and mobility
account for two thirds of the major environmental
pressures in Europe.
'A combination of ambitious
policies' is necessary to steer European
consumption 'into a more sustainable direction',
said Professor McGlade. 'One of the main
problems of our economies today is that
the indicator we use to measure whether
we are moving in the right direction — GDP
— is misleading. For countries and companies
alike, calculations of the full cost of
commodities and services must include not
only market prices, but also carbon, water
and other resources'.
The European Environment
Agency provides European policy-makers with
periodic assessments on waste and material
resources and also monitors current consumption
trends, evaluates the effectiveness of waste
and resources policies and identifies and
disseminates best practices in the field.
Green Week 2008 brings together more than
2 000 experts from the fields of science,
non-governmental organisations, businesses
and all levels of policy-making from the
EU and beyond. The EEA has contributed every
year to Green Week's conference and exhibition
since its first edition in 2001, acknowledging
the dialogue opportunities between European
institutions and a wide range of stakeholders.
Check last year's water
quality in your favourite bathing spot
Published: 02 Jun 2008
- The 'Water Information System for Europe'
(WISE) now allows users to view the quality
of the bathing water in more than 21 000
coastal beaches and freshwater bathing sites
across Europe during the 2007 bathing season.
WISE also includes new information on urban
wastewater treatment and water quality in
European lakes and rivers.
With WISE, users can
check the water quality on an interactive
map. They can also select a country or a
region, download the data for their selection
and make comparisons with previous years.
The downloaded data can also be visualised
in geospatial mapping programmes such as
Google Earth and Microsoft Live maps.
WISE is a partnership
between the European Commission (DG Environment,
Joint Research Centre and Eurostat) and
the European Environment Agency, closely
collaborating with EU Member States. An
annual assessment of the bathing water quality
in the EU will be presented today by the
European Commission.
