The 4 th pan-European assessment “Belgrade report”, the Environment for Europe process and beyond…..

David Stanners European Environment Agency

Outline

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The Belgrade report: process & results Environment for Europe process  16 years on....

Towards a shared environmental information system

Outline

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3.

The Belgrade report: process & results Environment for Europe process  16 years on....

Towards a shared environmental information system

“EfE” Environment for Europe process from Dobris to Belgrade 1991 Dobris 1993 Lucerne 1995 Sofia → “2007 Belgrade Report” 1998 Aarhus → 2003 Kiev → 2007 Belgrade

“EfE” Environment for Europe process from Dobris to Belgrade 1991 Dobris 1993 Lucerne 1995 Sofia → 1998 Aarhus → 2003 Kiev → 2007 Belgrade

Kiev Ministerial declaration (23 June 2003):

“30. We call on EEA to prepare

the fourth assessment report for the next EfE ministerial conference building on new partnerships, especially with UNECE and UNEP…………………”

EEA mandate for the Belgrade report: To produce…….

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Kiev Conference (June 2003)

• Short, policy oriented report • Indicator based Responding to Belgrade agenda Support in assessing progress on EECCA strategy Based on recent information

Objectives of Belgrade report

•     To answer to the ministers request in Kiev request to produce a short, policy oriented indicator based report responding to the Belgrade agenda to support ….. assessing progress on EECCA strategy…. based on recent information.

Progress and benchmarking Basis for action Awareness raising

Belgrade report portal: http://eea.eionet.europa.eu/

Belgrade report- Table of contents

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Setting the scene (Europe and the wider world, trade and environment, sustainable development, socio-economic parameters)

Environment and health and quality of

life (air, water, soil, chemicals)

Climate change Nature and biodiversity Marine environment

Natural resources and wastes (including sustainable production and consumption) Sectoral integration (energy, transport, agriculture, tourism)

The Belgrade report – timing

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Data gathering and indicator production:

From Jan. 2006 Writing phase: April – August 2006

Extensive review & consultations on

drafts in Russian & English: Oct 2006 February 2007

Processing comments & final editing:

Dec 2006 - March 2007 English version available: end-June 2007 Russian version available: September 2007 Report launch: 10 October 2007 in Belgrade

Partnerships…partnerships … Main reports planned in 2007 Assessment of EECCA strategy Available (date) Sept.2007

Organisation EAP Task Force /OECD 2007- early 2008 OECD OECD Environmental Outlook Mid term evaluation of the implementation of strategy adopted in Budapest UNEP GEO4 IPCC report Assessment of the transboundary waters and international lakes 2007 Sept.2007

2007 2007 WHO UNEP IPCC Secretariat UNECE Secretariat water convention

Towards an indicator based report

For a sustainable and more policy relevant process

• • • EEA Core set of indicators EECCA proposed core set Environment and health indicators (WHO)

Complemented by+++

• Assessments at the regional scale where information is limited or gaps are identified • • Case studies Outlooks & scenarios (where available)

Executive Summary

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English version available in Circa Interest Group/Belgrade 2007 at:

http://eea.eionet.europa.eu/Members/irc/envirowin dows/belgrade_07/library?l=/report_development/e xecutive_progress/consultationdoc/_EN_1.0_&a=d&c ookie=1

Executive Summary: key messages

Environment and Health: Inland Waters

• • • • Unsafe water, poor sanitation and insufficient hygiene result in 18 000 premature deaths each year, mostly in children in EECCA and SEE; rural populations in these regions are much more affected.

More than 100 million people in the pan-European region still do not have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. In EECCA and SEE the quality of water supply and sanitation services has deteriorated continuously over the past 15 years. The rural population is affected more than urban citizens. Twelve countries in the pan-European region (one third of region’s population) water-stressed. High leakage losses in water distribution systems, poor management and maintenance of irrigation systems, and unsustainable cropping patterns all exacerbate the impacts of droughts and water scarcity.

Major floods

Figure: Over the past five years, the region has suffered more than 100 major floods. Inappropriate river management, soil sealing and deforestation all exacerbate the risk of flooding.

Env. & health and quality of life – impacts and more complex concerns (multicausality & interlinkages) direct

• • Major environment-related health concerns in the pan-European region continue to be linked to

noise

common driving forces or pressures.

poor air and water quality, hazardous chemicals, and

. These are often interconnected through Although cause and effect relationships are hard to establish, associations between outdoor and indoor

air pollution, water

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soil contamination, hazardous chemicals

and

noise

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respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, cancer, asthma, allergies, as well as disorders of reproductive and neuro-developmental systems.

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Low level exposures, mixtures and children

• • • Growing concern about adverse impacts of exposures to

low levels of chemicals

, often in

complex mixtures

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Several adult diseases are suggested to be linked to exposure in very

early childhood or exposure

of parents before conception.

Persistent chemicals with long-term effects, and those used in long-life articles, may present risks even after their production has been phased out.

Belgrade consultation & dissemination processes - novelties

• • Consultation in Russian & English (Oct 2006 to Feb 2007) allowing wide participation of EECCA experts & institutions; Two dedicated consultation meetings funded under EU TACIS activity: • • EECCA NGOs & others 16-17 Nov; UNECE/WGEMA 27-29 Nov

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Chapter 2 – number of comments/section

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On-line comments by country

Belgrade 07 From June 2007 Belgrade 07

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The Belgrade report: process & results Environment for Europe process  16 years on....

Towards a shared environmental information system

“Environment for Europe” process Ministerial Conference 10-12 October 2007 Belgrade ...and beyond?

..?

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EfE process 16 years on

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changes in context of EU relations with UNECE member countries profound

27 out of the 56 UNECE members now in EU Croatia, Turkey and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are EU candidates Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro covered by Stabilisation and Association Process and are potential EU candidates Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine covered by ENP in East Strategic Partnership with Russia

EfE process 16 years on

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Many new opportunities for closer cooperation between EU and EECCA countries:

• • • European Neighbourhood Policy now strengthened The EU-Central Asia Political Dialogue Recent Commission Communication on Black Sea Synergy

The strengthened European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

Communication from the Commission on Strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy (COM(2006) 726 final) Measures proposed to strengthen Policy: • promotion of people-to-people contacts • enhancing regional co-operation • building a thematic dimension to cover e.g.: 

Environment

 Transport •  Energy Effective implementation of multilateral agreements & processes

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European Commission focus in future EfE process

(SEC(2007) 633, 21.05.2007) work of the existing UNECE environmental conventions , Contributing to UNECE Environmental EECCA Regional Environmental Centres Participating in selected sub-regional initiatives of relevance to the EfE process, in particular those focussed on Central Asia.

Contributing, with EU Member States, to improvement of the water sector in the EECCA region towards the objectives of

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EC opinion of UNECE focus in future EfE process

(SEC(2007) 633, 21.05.2007) Facilitate implementation of UN environmental conventions in region, especially transboundary scope Regional level coordinating of 2002 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation Environment Performance Reviews for policy guidance and important overview for potential donors.

Future vision & opportunities?

• • • Vision for future EECCA cooperation based on findings: −

Sharing good practices

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Core set of indicators

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Shared environment information system

Parallel with Horizon 2020 Mediterranean process?

WISE, transboundary rivers, Caspian & Black Sea

EEA role in future EfE process?

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Streamlining information systems Data flows & indicators Information infrastructures Review & monitoring of progress

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Conventions Sub-regional & thematic initiatives Intercountry and regional comparisons Comparative analysis to learn lessons and share of experiences Development of shared information system prerequisite for future work For water (WISE) already begun

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The Belgrade report: process & results Environment for Europe process  16 years on....

Towards a shared environmental information system

Data reporting in the 90’s

The Public and Decision-Makers EEA Big report consultants ETC ACC ETC BD ETC Water CEC Others PCP, NRC NFP, other National Authorities

The Public and Decision-Makers ETC ACC ETC BD EEA ETC Water ETC TE ETC Waste Reportnet PCP, NRC NFP and other National Authorities

Establishing partnerships for sharing data and information

Countries (NFPs, national statistical offices, etc) EU bodies (DGEnv., Eurostat, EEA, JRC, etc) Others (Research, Industry/SMEs, Banks, local/reg auth, NGOs, etc) Regional Organisations (UNECE, UNEP, etc)

or…

Example - Water Information System for Europe (WISE)

EEA-node information services EIONET National Data centres User Emissions data Data from other Directives Internet (Geonetwork Inspire) Sub-national Data centres Mapping Agencies International Conventions GMES

Principles of the Shared Environmental Information system (SEIS)

• • • • • • One delivery for multiple purposes Accessibility to all Serve national regional and global obligations Link to regional & international systems (Eionet, UNEP EnviromentWatch, etc....) Promoting common standards (e.g. GEMET – GEneral Multilingual Environmental Thesarus) Include spatial data & satellite information

Principles of the Shared Environmental Information system (SEIS)

• • • • • • One delivery for multiple purposes Accessibility to all Serve national regional and global obligations Link to regional & international systems (Eionet, UNEP EnviromentWatch, etc....) Promoting common standards (e.g. GEMET – GEneral Multilingual Environmental Thesarus)

Include spatial information data & satellite

EEA architecture and tools

Services and analytical tools Spatial data infrastructure Reportnet data flow tools EIONET system connections

SEIS elements

Spatial Data Infrastructure as a backbone of SEIS Services and assessment tools Spatial Data Infrastructure Reportnet tools EIONET national monitoring

SEIS elements

Example: European river catchments (based on CCM and Euroglobalmap 1:1 000 000) Source: EEA, JRC (2006)

EEA/Eionet SDI services

WISE – Water Information System for Europe

Thank you!

www.eea.europa.eu