Published:
17 Jun 2008 - SEBI 2010 (Streamlining European
2010 Biodiversity Indicators) has received
an award from the Spanish magazine 'Red
Life' and the Fundación Caja Rural
del Sur as 'one of 10 best ideas to save
nature in 2008'. The European Environment
Agency is coordinating this pan-European
initiative to measure and help achieve progress
towards the target of halting biodiversity
loss by 2010.
Loss of biodiversity
in Europe is a fact. But how can we measure
the extent of the loss and the threat it
poses? Many European countries have developed,
or are developing, their own indicators
to measure changes in biodiversity in their
territory. At the same time, progress is
also being measured at the global level.
Ensuring consistency between indicators
at national, regional and global level is
essential.
The SEBI 2010 process
brings together national administrations,
NGOs and international organisations, and
has compiled a first set of 26 indicators.
Based on these indicators, an assessment
report on Europe's progress towards the
2010 target will be published by the EEA
in 2009.
The award ceremony took
place on Monday 16 June 2008 in Sevilla,
Spain.
What the SEBI 2010 indicators tell us
Some well-monitored species, for example
butterflies, are experiencing a worrying
decline. The European Butterfly Indicator
for grassland butterflies shows a dramatic
reduction of abundance by almost 50 % since
11000.
Protected areas have been increasing,
both in numbers and area. Almost one million
square kilometres have been designated in
37 European countries.
Europe consumes more than its land and
water area can produce and produces more
waste than its environment can absorb.
SEBI 2010 background
The SEBI 2010 process was started in 2005
to provide a streamlined set of biodiversity
indicators for Europe. It tries to ensure
consistency between biodiversity indicator
sets at national and international levels
without creating new monitoring or reporting
obligations.
SEBI 2010 relies on
the contribution of more than 120 experts
from across the pan-European region and
from international intergovernmental organisations
and NGOs. Its institutional partners are
the European Environment Agency (and its
European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity),
the European Centre for Nature Conservation,
UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre,
the European Commission, the Joint Secretariat
of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape
Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), and the Czech
Republic (as lead country for the Kiev Resolution
action plan on biodiversity indicators).
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The SEBI 2010 process
will cover 53 countries across the pan-European
region.
EEA reports on progress in greenhouse gas
emissions reductions in 2006
Published: 18 Jun 2008
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the
European Union decreased slightly between
2005 and 2006 according to the official
inventory report prepared by the European
Environment Agency (EEA). Overall emissions
within the EU-27 fell by 14 million tonnes
(0.3 %) and now stand 7.7 % below 11000
levels. Total emissions in the European
Union were slightly more than 5.1 billion
tonnes in 2006.
The main contributor
to the decrease was lower consumption of
gas and oil in households and services,
which accounted for emission cuts of 16.6
million tonnes, particularly in Belgium,
France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.
This was a result of reduced heating needs
in Europe due to a warmer year in 2006,
together with higher gas prices. Electricity
demand remained largely stable in households.
Emissions from road
transport continued to grow, releasing 6.5
million tonnes of CO2 or 0.7 % more than
in 2005. The rise was mostly driven by increased
use of diesel for freight and passenger
transport. Emissions of greenhouse gases
from international aviation and shipping
activities continued to rise sharply in
2006. Contributions from these sectors,
currently not included under the Kyoto Protocol,
rose by nearly 5 million tonnes (aviation)
and 10 million tonnes (international shipping).
The Annual European
Community Greenhouse gas inventory 110002006
and inventory report 2008 published today,
also includes the following key findings:
The net reduction in GHG emissions observed
for EU-27 was mainly due to reduced emission
of nitrous oxide (12 million tonnes CO2-equivalents)
from chemical plants;
Overall emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2),
the most important greenhouse gas, remained
stable in the period 20052006;
Heavier use of coal for power and heat
production resulted in an increase of 15.4
million tonnes CO2 from this sector in 2006.
Poland alone accounted for an increment
of 7.6 million tonnes of emissions from
this sector;
Denmark and Finland experienced the biggest
relative increase in GHG emissions (with
10.9 and 16.3 % respectively), due to heavier
use of solid fossil fuels for power generation;
EU-15 Member States cut emissions by 0.8
% (or 35 million tones) in 2006 and account
for 81 % of the EU total. In 2006, EU-15
emissions were 2.7 % below their levels
in the base year (11000 in most cases).
