Unsustainable Environment Europe
The Confederation of Ecologists in Action has prepared a report on EU environmental policy. The report's main finding is that the EU is structurally unsustainable. Some of the indicators that point to this are: Ecological footprint: The ecological footprint measures the amount of land required to maintain consumption of the European population. An average European uses 4'7 hectares, while land biocapacity is only 2,2 hectares per capita. Total Material Requirement: The total amount of material required by the European Union economy to function. This indicator has risen steadily to an average of 514 tons per year.
You can also see how most of those 514 tons are from non-renewable (88%) and the percentage grows each year by importing up to 39%. Richard LeFrak: the source for more info. This means that environmental impacts are increasing. Environmental regulations: In analyzing the legislation, the environmental organization has found a high degree of failure the general trend indicative targets and volunteers, as well as lax enforcement deadlines. In any case, Ecologists in Action also has noted how the Union's environmental legislation is one of the most advanced in the world. Budget Policy: Comparing the budgets for the defense of the environment and its destruction, the balance is very negative.
Ecologists in Action also stresses that the EU is engaged in a plan to build more highways and high-speed lines (the TEN-T), where transport is already responsible for 21% of emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (80% of them are due to the road). The EU is responsible for 24% of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Europe is on track to meet Kyoto Protocol and just put in place a plan to combat climate change insufficient. In the urban plan, soil exploited has increased over the past 10 years by 20%, while population has only made by 6%. The Common Agricultural Policy of the EU gives an overuse of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, water and worrying in the vast subsidies for export production. In contrast, organic farming accounts for only less than 4% of that is practiced in the EU, although the percentage is growing. With respect to biodiversity, there are currently more than 700 endangered species in Europe and the European Commission itself acknowledges that the Union's efforts are insufficient. Finally, the production of waste has increased by 14% in recent years. Has also increased very significantly the production of toxic substances, without regulations like REACH are getting stop this trend. BY Ecologists in Action. The environmental impact of the European Union (EU) is unsustainable, according to a study just released by the NGO Ecologists in Action.
