The European environment – state and outlook 2015

Europe’s environment 2015: future prosperity depends on bolder steps on policy, knowledge, investments and innovation

Europe’s environment and climate policies have delivered substantial benefits, improving the environment and quality of life, while driving innovation, job creation and growth. Despite these gains, Europe still faces a range of persistent and growing environmental challenges. Addressing them will require fundamental changes in the systems of production and consumption that are the root cause of environmental problems.

These are some of the key messages from the European Environment Agency’s five-yearly assessment ‘The European environment – state and outlook 2015’ (SOER 2015), published today. SOER 2015 is an integrated assessment of Europe’s environment. It also includes assessments and data at global, regional and country levels, as well as cross-country comparisons.