and Western Europe, with lower rates in Central Europe, the Russian Federation, and Central Asian countries (UNEP and UNECE 2016).
The EU also made minor progress towards SDG 2 (Food Security) and mixed progress towards SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). The one SDG where the EU is not making progress is SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality) which covers inequalities within and between countries and migration. Worryingly, there is insufficient data for the last five-year period to calculate and understand the trends towards achieving SDG 6 (Water), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Oceans) and SDG 16 (Peace and Justice) (UNEP and UNECE 2016). This is due to a combination of the timeliness of data and the lack of a standard methodology for many of these indicators (UNEP and UNECE 2016).
The pan-European region is large and comprises of various geographical sub- regions. Non-EU countries include those in South Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, the Russian Federation, and Central Asia. As can be expected, with such diversity, progress towards achieving the SDGs is mixed. There has been significant progress across the region to promote SDG 7 (Energy), SDG 11 (Cities and Communities), SDG target 3.9 (air quality), SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDGs 14 and 15 (Oceans and Land and Biodiversity). On the other hand, significant differences remain in resource efficiency and resource consumption (SDG target 8.4) and in the management and efficient use of natural resources (SDG target 12.2). Across the pan-European region, there was significant progress towards
the MDGs. In the pan-European region, marked differences in average material footprint of consumption persist between EU Member States and countries from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. There are also significant intra- regional differences in the EU, with the material footprint of older Member States being significantly higher than that of the countries of the former Eastern Bloc (UNEP and UNECE 2016).
Despite the progress achieved under SDG target 3.9 and SDG 13, there is a need to further promote air quality and climate action across the region. Climate change remains one of the largest threats to human and ecosystem health and to achieving sustainable development in the pan-European region, while also being an accelerator for most other environmental risks. Furthermore, despite improvements in air quality and in reducing pollution in many parts of the region, air pollution is now the greatest health risk to the region’s population and other forms of pollution pose a threat to human health with the vulnerable and poor being the most affected (UNEP and UNECE 2016).
Conclusion
The region’s share of global consumption and use of resources is unsustainable with marked differences between Western Europe and other parts. Climate change and poor urban air quality impact large swathes of the population in the region. Freshwater pollution is widespread and water availability continues to be stressed by climate change, especially in southern Europe and Central Asia. Biodiversity continues to decline despite the largest protected area network in the world being in place. Chemicals and waste are important issues within the region with the impacts of pollution and wastes transcending national and regional boundaries and affecting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Climate change and pollution – in particular plastics – continue to threaten coastal, ocean, and marine environments; and finally, competing land uses such as agriculture, infrastructure and settlement continue to degrade ecosystems and threaten the sustainability of productive land.
Bicycles parked over a canal in Amsterdam (Jace and Afsoon 2016). 24
While challenges remain, the pan-European region has many strengths and is driving forward the transition to a low carbon, green, and resource efficient/ circular economy, evidenced by the current trends in decoupling economic output from environmental impacts. There is a strong policy framework being implemented in the EU and, notably, at the Eighth Environment for Europe Conference in Batumi in 2016, Ministers endorsed the Pan-European Green Economy Strategic Framework and launched the Batumi Initiative on Green
Measuring Progress Report 2019
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