and the policy agenda, however, substantial inertia, due to conventional thinking or traditional values and norms, has impeded efficient solutions with high impact. In a time of changing climate, with growing populations and even higher pressure on ecosystems and natural resources, the call for value-based education and integrated approaches is urgent and a failure to respond will inevitably lead to significant, unpredictable consequences for both planetary and human health.


The precautionary principle may serve as a first approach in this world of complexity. This must not be seen as an argument for non-action in situations of uncertainty, rather, it should promote continued investigation, but where there is insufficient evidence of a potentially harmful effect, precaution should be applied as stated by Principle 15 of The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (UNCED 1992).


“Late lessons from early warnings” was produced by the EEA in collaboration with a broad range of external authors and peer reviewers. The case studies cover a diverse range of chemical and technological innovations, and highlight a number of systemic problems. The “Late Lessons Project” illustrates how damaging and costly the misuse or neglect of the precautionary principle can be to human health and the environment, using a synthesis of the lessons to be learned and applied to maximising innovations while minimising harms (EEA 2013b).


29:


Environmental indicators and assessment frameworks


Environmental indicators can provide insights into trends in ambient conditions, resource use patterns, and help to identify policies and governance tools to improve ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Countries within the pan-European region maintain sets of indicators linked to national, regional and global processes; these can be part of the set of internationally agreed environmental goals (IaEGs) within multilateral environmental agreements and regional conventions such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, UNECE Convention on Long-Range


Transboundary Air Pollution, Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) and the Convention on Non-navigational uses of Transboundary Watercourses (UNEP Live). The EEA maintains a set of 146 environmental indicators, 37 of which are designated as ‘Core Set Indicators’ and the UNECE maintains a set of environmentally relevant statistics and indicators from countries and conventions.


The indicator and analysis framework used in the GEO and EEA assessments is the DPSIR model; this is made up of five categories of interaction (D) drivers that exert pressure (P) on the environment, which as a consequence, cause changes in the state (S) of the environment, leading to impacts (I) on society and the planet and societal and political responses (R) (Stanners et al. 2007). In this report, indicators have been considered through the lens of seven thematic areas – climate change, air, freshwater, biodiversity, chemicals and waste, land and oceans and marine – with an overall focus on the relations between environment and human health and well-being.


In the context of health, the WHO uses DPSEEA (drivers, pressures, state, exposure, effect, action) to assess environmental health impacts and burden of disease, through the measureable effects of pressures through multiple exposure to hazards and their effects under multiple contextual factors such as gender, demography, poverty and inequality (Liu et al. 2012). The EEA has also addressed the risks associated with different chemicals and pollutants from the perspective of the precautionary principle (EEA 2013f).


In Chapter 2 of this assessment, each theme is looked at across the DPSIR framework; the trends in each thematic area are documented based on best available information from a range of sources, including the peer-reviewed literature, national reports, intergovernmental bodies and convention secretariats, for example, European Environment Agency, Eurostat, CLRTAP, CBD and the UN system, for example, UNECE and WHO. As conclusive evidence on the impacts and effects of many pollutants on ecosystem health


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