ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 ESPON SEMINAR November 2002 Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg Development of Terrestrial Environment Indicators at the EEA Jean-Louis Weber

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 EEA : the European Environment Agency “The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe’s environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy making agents and the public”

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Main objectives of the EEA 1/2 To assist the European Community and member countries to:  identify, frame, prepare and implement sound and effective environmental policy measures and legislation  monitor, evaluate and assess actual and expected progress in the implementation and results of such measures.

4 Support to the policy process : the EEA policy constellation EUlegislation EEA Nationallegislation Internationallegislation EU SDS International Organisations activities EC’c 6 th research FP Sectoralintegration Non-member country activities EC’s 6 th Environment Action Prog.

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002

Main objectives of the EEA 2/2 To establish and coordinate the European environment information and observation network (EIONET), based on an information infrastructure for the collection, analysis, assessment and management of data shared with European Commission services, EEA member countries and international organisations, agreements and conventions.

7 The EEA relies on EIONET, the network of national organisations, co-ordinated by NFPs …

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Network of organisations and Individuals with information and expertise of relevance to EEA’s Work Programme Telematics network based on Internet technology to enable communications and data flows between partners What is EIONET?

ESPON SEMINAR, November ETC ETC EEA ETC NFPs NRCs MCEs European Topic Centres National Focal Points National Reference Centres Main Component Elements Elements of the European Environment Information and Observation NETwork (EIONET)

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Role of the National Focal Points Coordinate Member State Input to EEA Work Programme Support Management Board Member Build Telematics Network in Member State Coordinate data flows to ETCs and for EEA Reports Motivate NRCs and MCEs

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Work under EEA subvention Co-ordinate topical networks of NRCs Deliver reports, databases Improve comparability Advise on data gaps May support DG ENV when EEA requested Represent EEA in various fora Role of the European Topic Centres

ESPON SEMINAR, November European Topic Centers ETC on Terrestrial Environment ETC Air and Climate Change ETC Nature Protection and Biodiversity ETC Continental and maritime water ETC Waste and Material Flows

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Lead organisation: Partners and structure

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Terrestrial Environment Coastal Environment Soil Land T.E. CONCEPT: an integrated approach Rural… Urban…

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Core set of TE indicators EIONET ETC TE topic databases CLC 2000 Soil Coastal units Eurostat/ GISCO JRC... TERRIS Integrated Environmental Assessment Integrated Environmental Assessment Reporting Other ETCs Water Waste Nature Air Sea Conventions Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment 1.Data collection: e.g. CLC Indicators development: the EEA core set process and the terrestrial environment indicators 3.Integrated assessment: e.g. DPSIR and Land & Ecosystems Accounts Conclusion : Importance of the geographical information in the environmental information system

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment: 1. Data collection: CLC2000

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Main characteristics of Corine Land Cover (CLC) Mapping scale 1: , resolution 100 m Nomenclature: 44 classes Minimum mapping 25 ha Land cover changes >5 ha Geometric accuracy: – image data: < 25 m – land cover data: < 100 m Thematic accuracy: > 90 % Updating frequency: every 10 year

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORINE land cover update, year 2000 IMAGE2000CLC2000 Centralised activity Decentralised activity based on national teams EIONET National Reference Centres Land Cover contracts EO Industry (SSC, GISAT)

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CLC2000 in progress  National inventories to be finalised by Dec  Co-financing of the programme by COM & Member States  Accession Countries participating on the same basis  Data will be disseminated for free for non-commercial use (e.g. ESPON…)  Commercial use: pricing up to each country

ESPON SEMINAR, November Indicators development: the EEA « core set » process and the terrestrial environment indicators Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment:

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Reporting obligations  Legal = Compliance data  Assessment of the implementation of the regulations by the Member states  Don’t necessarily inform on state, trends, effectiveness of policies  Moral = the reporting on state & trends  Multiple clients  Multiple data flows

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 The present situation and the need to streamline the process ECEEAOECDUNEP The Public and Decision-Makers ETC DG EurostatECEEAOECDUNEP National Institutions The Public and Decision-Makers ETC DG

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002  One EEA Core Set of Indicators  Covering Environmental Issues and Sectors  Refering to Policies  Shared with EIONET, the Commission and International Organisations,  Maintained on the WEB (Reportnet),  Accessible to the Public(s) on the WEB  Used as a Resource for various EEA Reports The approach of the EEA, based on indicators

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Why indicators? Accountability! relevant policy questions indicators distance to target analysis accountability of policy makers/ environmental managers Emissions of ozone precursors, EU15 target

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Why indicators? Communication! Environmental Headline Indicators Keys Good progress towards meeting objective, improvement  No significant change, static  Movement away from objective, declining ? Insufficient data

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Why indicators? Benchmarking! relevant policy questions indicators country comparison benchmarking dissemination of best experiences Transport CO 2 emissions: % change

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Why indicators ? Answering the policy questions Environmental issues (clean air, climate change, good water, healthy ecosystems…) Integration of environmental concerns in sector policies (transport, agriculture, energy, tourism…) Sustainable development reporting

ESPON SEMINAR, November basic policy questions Type A: “What is happening?” Environmental state and quality Type B: “Does it matter?” Performance indicators Type C: “Are we improving our processes?” Eco-efficiency indicators Type D: "Are policies working?" Measure of policy effectiveness

ESPON SEMINAR, November Sectoral indicators Environmental issue indicators issue indicators headline indicators integration process global assessment progress to sustainability n x 30 ca ? env. policy development economy sustainability indicators society sustainability indicators Environment EU Indicator architecture

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 THE EEA CORE SET OF INDICATORS

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT MAIN POLICY ISSUES  Regional Policy and Sustainable Land Use  Urban Environment  Coast Protection and Integrated Management  Soils Protection and Sustainable Use  Terrestrial Dimension of Specific Environmental Issues  Sector Policies and Sustainable Land Use

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (1)  Regional Policy and Sustainable Land Use  REG1 State and changes of land use and land cover patterns in Europe  REG2 Environmental dimension of the European spatial integration  REG3 Environmental dimension of rural and urban interaction

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (2)  Urban Environment  URB1 Sustainable use of land by urban systems  URB2 Citizen access to nearby public open areas: green areas  URB3 Local mobility and passenger transportation: trips, time & distance  URB4 Noise pollution in urban areas

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (3)  Coast Protection and Integrated Management  COAST1 Sustainability of the coastal development  COAST2Water and waste management in coastal zones  COAST3Impact of land use on coastal biodiversity  COAST4Coastal erosion  COAST5Risks to the coastal zones

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (4)  Soils Protection and Sustainable Use  SOIL1 Soil erosion  SOIL2 Decline in organic matter in soil  SOIL3 Diffuse soil contamination  SOIL4 Local soil contamination  SOIL5 Soil sealing  SOIL6 Other threats to soil

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (5)  Terrestrial Dimension of Specific Environmental Issues  WATR River basin management  BIODV Spatial dimension of biodiversity conservation  CLIM Impact of land use on climate changes  RISK Spatial analysis of risks to human health & the environment

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 CORE SET OF INDICATORS / TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT SPECIFIC POLICY ISSUES (6)  Sector Policies and Sustainable Land Use  TRAN Transport impact on the environmental landscape  TOUR Tourism impact on the environmental landscape  AGRI1 Agriculture impact on the environmental landscape  AGRI2 Agriculture sustainable use of soil  FORST Spatial dimension of the sustainable development of the forests

ESPON SEMINAR, November Integrated assessment: e.g. DPSIR, Land & Ecosystems Accounts Setting up the EEA information system on Terrestrial Environment:

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Reminder : An indicator is a dataset which tells something = is more than the dataset itself An indicator tells about interactions, causes and effects

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Driving Forces Pressures State Responses Impact Quality Natural resources Health of ecosystems, population, economy Economic & Social Drivers Pollutants Resource use Land use Environment & Sectors Policies, Participation … The story : DPSIR

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 The story: Land and Ecosystems Accounts Previous experiences : –UN-ECE working group on physical environment accounts, –Eurostat, –France, Great-Britain, Germany, Chile SEEA Chapter « Land and Ecosystems Accounts » Common project EEA-ETCTE-Eurostat, based on CLC Test areas : –The coastal zones of Europe –4 PHARE countries

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Conceptual basis of stock & flow accounts (after Haines-Young) Opening balance + / _ Rows of table define structure of world in terms of elements of natural capital Closing balance Flow account Columns define process which affect row elements Indicators

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Land & Ecosystem Accounting Basic Accounts, common for all, describing land use and land cover changes « Supplementary Accounts » targetted to priority poicy issues; specific but connected with the Basic Accounts A set of nomenclature for bridging with the National Accounts Spatial Analysis: Analytical and Reporting Units, Landscape Types

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Structure of the basic set of land cover/land use accounts ( SEEA Figure 8.7)

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Illustration : Great Britain, Land cover Account based on the Countryside Survey

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Lowland landscapes dominated by arable Marginal upland landscapes Lowland landscapes dominated by pasture Upland landscapes Illustration: The Four Major Landscape Types used for the Geographical Disaggregation of the Environmental Accounts in Great Britain (Haines-Young after Barr et al 1993)

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Map ofdominant Land Cover types of Europe as a possible (?) basis for land and ecosystems accounts

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Conclusion Importance of the geographical information in the environmental information system

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Needs of spatial data for the EEA indicators - Provisional NUTS (103) CLC (82) Spatial dataset Indicators

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 Geographical data and spatial analysis and modelling in the environment information system

ESPON SEMINAR, November 2002 European Environment Agency Copenhagen · Denmark (See Josiane Riviere BU5 3/63)