8th Environmental Action Program of the European Union

With the 8th Environment Action Program, the European Union aims to monitor its progress towards achieving its environmental and climate targets by 2030 and the long-term vision for 2050 "Living well within the carrying capacity of our planet". For this purpose, the Commission has presented a list of headline indicators that emerged from consultations with stakeholders and Member States. The aim of the Environmental Action Program is, on the one hand, to get the EU back on track in the implementation of its environmental and climate projects, and, on the other hand, to promote transparency and educate the European population about the impact of the EU's climate and environmental policies.

The headline indicators are aligned with the European Green Deal and include the two to three most politically relevant and resilient statistical indicators for each of the priority thematic objectives by 2030, including, for example, climate action and the circular economy. In addition, there are five indicators designed to measure progress in addressing key environmental and climate pressures, and indicators related to the achievement of key enabling conditions, which include, for example, a sustainable financial system, the polluter pays principle, and the elimination of environmentally harmful subsidies. Finally, the list includes systemic indicators to measure progress on the three dimensions of environmental well-being, i.e. economic and social aspects are also covered.

Beginning in 2023, the Commission will report annually on progress and conduct more in-depth midterm and final evaluations in 2024 and 2029, respectively.

As this Environmental Action Program is a monitoring exercise, the Commission must ensure that coherence is established with SDG monitoring.

You can read more about the 8th Environmental Action Program here.