What has been EU's environmental policy over past 5 years?

Climate change

Climate change is one of the gravest challenges facing humanity. The EU is working for a global agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and is leading the way by taking bold action of its own. In a landmark decision in December 2008, EU leaders approved a comprehensive package of emission-cutting measures. The plan aims to reduce greenhouse gases at least 20% by 2020 (compared with 1990 levels), raise renewable energy's share of the market to 20% and cut overall energy consumption by 20% (compared with projected trends). Within the drive for more renewable energy, it was agreed that 10% of fuel for transport should come from biofuels, electricity or hydrogen.

Emissions trading

A cornerstone of the EU’s climate change strategy, the emissions trading system rewards companies that reduce their CO2 emissions and penalises those that exceed limits.

Introduced in 2005, the scheme takes in about 12,000 factories and plants responsible for about half the EU’s emissions of CO2, the main gas blamed for global warming.

Under the system, EU governments set limits on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by energy-intensive industries like power generation and steel and cement makers. If these businesses want to emit more CO2 than their quota, they have to buy spare permits from more efficient companies.

In the future, more industries will be subject to quotas, including airlines and petrochemical companies. EU countries will also be able to offset emissions by buying credits from projects to reduce CO2 in non-EU countries.

Biodiversity

The EU has committed to stopping the decline of endangered species and habitats in the EU by 2010, but reaching that goal will require much effort. Policies and legislation are already in place to address the challenge, but efforts to implement them need to be replicated on a much larger scale. In particular, the EU wants to expand Natura 2000, a set of areas where plant and animal species and their habitats must be protected. It already includes more than 26,000 sites across the EU.

Environmental health

Noise, swimming water, rare species and emergency response –these are just some of the areas covered under the extensive body of environmental legislation that the EU has established over the decades. Under the laws, which are mainly aimed at establishing health-based standards for pollutants, EU countries are required to monitor many different pollutants and to take action if levels exceed safe limits.

In some of its latest efforts on this front, the EU moved in 2008 to set binding limits on emissions of fine particles known as PM2.5. Released by cars and trucks, these microscopic particles can cause respiratory diseases. Under the new law, which takes effect in 2011, EU countries will have to reduce exposure to fine particles in urban areas by an average 20% by 2020 (based on 2010 levels).

Sustainable development

Sustainable development has long been one of the overarching objectives of EU policy. EU leaders launched the first EU sustainable development strategy in 2001 and updated it in 2006 to tackle shortcomings and take account of new challenges.

Closely tied to climate change and energy policy, the revised plan stresses the importance of education, research and public funding to achieve sustainable production and consumption patterns.

Since then there have been significant efforts in terms of policy. Now the focus is on putting policy into practice. In 2009, the commission proposed a package of measures to promote eco-friendly products, including greater use of energy efficiency labels like those found on wash machines.

References

[Environment, europa.eu