Measuring Environmental Degradation

A comprehensive yet concise overview of the key issues of environmental significance addressed as part of the Eurostat "Environmental Pressure Indicators Project". The work is part of the "Towards Environmental Pressure Indicators for the EU" (TEPI) series that has resulted from the project. The book is divided into ten distinct chapters, each one concentrating on a particular environmental policy field, ranging from ozone layer depletion to waste and water pollution. The contributors, each experts in their chosen discipline, provide background information on the main environmental pressures faced by the EU, identify the practical actions necessary to reduce these pressures and reflect upon the process of selecting an imaginative list of pressure indicators. The indicators are intended to describe these pressures, in a highly aggregated form, in order to communicate environmental information clearly whilst retaining scientific soundness. The work extends discussion by considering the expected benefits of communicating trends in environmental pressures to policymakers and the wider public, and considering whether central political intervention is necessary to deal with problem pressures.