A web-based navigation
tool, the environmental technology atlas,
was presented today during the EU informal
council meeting in Essen, Germany.
Proud of green tech atlas
EEA Executive Director, Prof Jacqueline
McGlade at the EEA exhibition stand in Essen
with Finland's Environment Minister, Paula
Lehtomäki, and Director, Timo Mäkelä,
from the European Commission.
Themes Environmental information
The ambition with this new tool, prepared
by the European Environment Agency (EEA),
is to assist private companies as well as
organisations and public bodies who need
to find sources of new environmental technology
across our continent.
'Information on environmental technology
is now widely needed to help policy-makers,
companies and citizens determine how to
best tackle some of our key environmental
problems. Whilst it exists, much of the
information is dispersed at national levels
and not easy to find. Given the Agency's
working remit as a European environmental
information provider, this was a critical
gap that we needed to help fill.' said EEA
executive director Jacqueline McGlade. The
web-based atlas covers knowledge centres,
major technology installations and private
companies all over Europe. It has been developed
in coordination with the German Federal
Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety.
The environmental technology atlas reflects
the technology areas referred to in the
German presidency position paper 'A new
quality of life: a New Deal for economy,
environment, and employment', namely: energy
generation and power stations, energy efficiency,
recycling and waste management, mobility
and transport, water and wastewater, environmental
engineering/systems engineering, life sciences
and nanotechnology.
The European companies listed in the atlas
deal with either pollution management, resource
management, integrated activities or monitoring.
As the name suggests, the environmental
technology atlas is a map-based tool. The
user is presented with a European map and
can zoom quickly into the geographical area
of interest. This feature is further enhanced
through the integration of the atlas with
Google Earth, enabling the chosen locations
to be shown on top of a satellite image
of the area. Searches can also be more highly
specified by using thematic filters and
keywords, allowing the user for instance
to search solely for private companies engaged
in waste management technology in Germany
and France.
Data has been collected from a wide range
of national business directories, yellow
pages, and Chamber of Commerce member lists.
What is launched in Essen is primarily
the new tool. While there are already several
thousand data entries included at the time
of start-up, much of the further population
of the atlas is to be a bottom-up process:
the atlas offers businesses and organisations
free of charge listing — which they can
do online by filling in a simple form.
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European Topic Centre for Land Use and Spatial
Information opens in Barcelona
The new European Topic Centre for Land
Use and Spatial Information (ETC/LUSI) was
inaugurated today at Universitat Autonoma
de Barcelona. The European Environment Agency's
Executive Director, Prof. Jacqueline McGlade,
joined the Spanish Minister of the Environment,
Cristina Narbona, and dignitaries from both
Catalonia and Andalucia for the event.
Themes Coasts and seas
We are delighted to have ETC/LUSI expand
its role to land use and spatial planning,
and would like to offer our gratitude to
the Spanish Ministry of Environment, the
Generalitat of Catalonia and Junta De Andalucia
for helping to make this happen.
Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director
of the European Environment Agency
ETC/LUSI is an international consortium
assisting the European Environment Agency
in its mission to deliver information on
the state and trends of the European environment
to policy-makers and the general public.
The consortium will also work with Spanish
authorities and organisations, helping to
reflect pan-European developments at regional
and national level.
'EU policy developments in territorial
cohesion and spatial perspectives have never
been more intensive than today. I have no
doubt that the contributions of ETC/LUSI
will prove invaluable', says Prof. Jacqueline
McGlade, Executive Director of the European
Environment Agency.
The centre is a 'network of networks' in
the field of land use and spatial planning,
'bridging the gap' between scientific research
and decision-making communities. The consortium's
agenda is driven by the main policy needs
within environment, sectoral integration
and planning in Europe. 10 core European
partners are involved and the consortium
is led by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.
ETC/LUSI has a 4-year contract with the
EEA.
Most human activities have a major impact
on land and soil. Therefore, an understanding
of the implications of changes in land cover
and land use is a key part of planning for
sustainable development. Spatial analysis
is a set of techniques used to analyse these
changes and related impacts, not only in
a particular area of concern but also in
nearby regions.
Europeans hit by melting snow and ice
The United Nations Environment Programme's
global outlook for ice and snow report,
released today, shows how Europeans will
be hit by a reduction in ice and snow both
on the continent and in remote regions like
the Arctic.
Themes Climate change
The snow line is expected to creep upwards
by 150 meters in the Alps for every degree
C the temperature rises. A three degrees
rise in summer could lead to a loss of about
80 % of the alpine glaciers. Snow and glaciers
are important for the availability of water,
especially in summer when the water retained
gradually melts. Reduced run-off will reduce
water supplies for Europeans living in catchment
areas of, for example, the Alps or the Pyrenees
and affect agriculture, industry and power
generation.
Winter tourism generates huge amounts of
revenue for Europe's economy. For example,
it makes up 4.5 % of Austria's GDP. As most
ski resorts rely on stable snow conditions,
they are likely to be hit by higher winter
temperatures.
Melting of snow and ice in remote areas
like the Arctic will also affect Europe.
As the white surfaces are replaced by darker
ones, more heat from the sun will be absorbed.
Also, there is more organic carbon and methane
stored in the Arctic permafrost than in
the atmosphere. Consequently, thawing of
the permafrost will release these greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere. Thus, the effects
in the Arctic will accelerate global warming.
Lower lying regions may be severely affected
by the rise in the sea level. In European
coastal zones, we find 16 % of the continent's
inhabitants and 280 cities with more than
50 000 people. Sea level now rises 3 mm/year
and is projected to continue to rise due
to past emissions of greenhouse gases. However,
the long-term effect of the melting of ice
sheets in Greenland and Antarctica remains
largely uncertain. If emissions continue
to grow, the melting of these ice sheets
could lead to the sea level rising by metres
over the next centuries, even with only
a partial melt down.
The EU has proposed to limit the global
warming to two degrees over pre-industrial
time to avoid such adverse effects. This
will require substantial reductions in the
emissions of greenhouse gases. However,
some effects are unavoidable. Therefore,
adaptation measures are needed in vulnerable
sectors and regions. The EU Commission will
publish a Green Paper on adaptation to climate
change in July this year.
