Improvements to Europe’s sustainability drive

On 17 March 2022, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a briefing, which found that Europe’s drive towards sustainability may benefit from a wider and joint approach to the use of the vital resources which underpin the functioning of core production and consumption systems. 

The briefing puts forward the concept of the resource nexus, which specifically looks at the interlinkages between resources, and further examines the role the nexus can play in supporting policy coherence and integration in the context of the European Green Deal. 

Applying the resource nexus to policies can help generate information on synergies and trade-offs across multiple resource-related goals. The briefing uses case studies on organic farming, advanced biofuels and electric vehicles to illustrate. 

The briefing reports that natural resources have been under increased and unprecedented pressure for decades amid growing populations, economic development and changing lifestyles, which in turn has put pressure on the earth’s life-support systems through climate change, biodiversity loss, and changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere. It is further believed that wise use and management of our natural resources, along with conservation strategies, are central to Europe’s environmental sustainability policy framework, notably through the European Green Deal. 

Source: EEA, 17 March 2022