Pursuing healthy environment, healthy economies in Europe

IEWY News: The European Environment Agency (EEA) released today its fourth Environment State and Outlook report (SOER2010), a comprehensive assessment of how and why Europe’s environment is changing, and what we are doing about it. SOER 2010 concludes that a fully integrated approach to transforming Europe to a resource-efficient green economy can not only result in a healthy environment, but also boost prosperity and social cohesion.

The EEA’s new assessment shows that global demands for natural resources to feed, clothe, house and transport people are accelerating. These mounting demands on natural capital are exerting increased pressure to ecosystems, economies and social cohesion in Europe and elsewhere. However, SOER2010 confirms that well-designed environmental policies continue to improve Europe’s environment without undermining Europe’s growth potential.

‘We are consuming more natural resources than is ecologically stable. This is true for both Europe and the planet as a whole. Climate change is the most visible sign of instability so far, but a range of global trends suggest greater systemic risks to ecosystems in future. The nature of the current financial crisis should give us pause for thought. ‘ said Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of EEA.

A complete shift to a resource-efficient Green Economy requires that all environmental resources – biodiversity, land, carbon, rivers, the seas and the air we breathe – are fully considered in production, consumption and global trade decisions.

…SOER2010 also highlights a greater understanding of the links between climate change, biodiversity, resource use and people’s health – and how tools like spatial planning, ecological tax reform, pollution prevention, precaution and resource accounting can underpin a natural capital-based approach to their management….