European Commission has defined headline indicators for monitoring progress towards E.U.’s environment and climate goals
The European Commission has presented a list of headline indicators for monitoring progress towards the European Union’s (E.U.’s) environment and climate goals for 2030 and 2050.
The indicators, new Monitoring Framework under the 8th Environment Action Programme, have been defined after intense consultations with stakeholders and Member States. It aims to foster transparency and inform Europeans about the impact of E.U. climate and environmental policy.
The indicators capture progress towards environmental wellbeing, including economic and social aspects. The headline indicators follow the structure of the 8th Environment Action Programme building on the European Green Deal and include the 2-3 most policy relevant and statistically robust indicators for each of the thematic priority objectives to 2030, covering climate mitigation, climate adaptation, circular economy, zero pollution and biodiversity.
Speaking on the occasion, the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal – Frans Timmermans said, “We have very ambitious environmental and climate targets to help us deliver the just green transition that Europe and the world needs. But what you cannot measure, you cannot manage. To keep us on track, we need to keep a close eye on whether we are meeting our goals. These indicators help us do so.”
Moreover, the headline set includes indicators to monitor progress towards the main enabling conditions, covering sustainable finance, the ‘polluters-pay principle’, and phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies. The last chapter of the monitoring framework includes systemic indicators that aim to capture progress towards the three dimensions of environmental wellbeing, to cover also economic and social aspects beyond nature protection.
Going forward, the European Commission will report annually on the progress made, based on stocktaking done by the European Environment Agency from 2023 onwards, with the help of the selected headline indicators. This reporting will facilitate an annual exchange between the European Commission, the Member States and the European Parliament, to be held in accordance with the 8th Environmental Action Programme.
The European Commission will conduct 2 in-depth assessments during the lifespan of the programme, a mid-term review in 2024 and a final evaluation in 2029. The European Commission will continue to promote coherence between the 8th Environment Action Programme headline indicators and other crosscutting monitoring tools, such as the European Semester and EU’s monitoring on the United Nations (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals.
The 8th Environment Action Programme entered into force on May 2, 2022 and includes an obligation for the European Commission to present a monitoring framework, based on a limited number of headline indicators.
