Rationale

Environmental problems extend beyond national frontiers and require a coordinated approach at a pan-European and, often, global level. Earth's natural resources and the man-made environment are under intense pressure from a growing population, urbanisation, construction, continuous expansion of the agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, transport, and energy sectors, and climate variability and warming at local, regional and global scales. Europe needs to engage in a new sustainable relationship with the environment while improving competitiveness and strengthening European industry. EU-wide cooperation is needed in order to attain critical mass, given the scale, scope and high level of complexity of environmental research. This will facilitate common planning, the use of connected and inter-operable databases, and the development of coherent and large scale observation and forecasting systems. Research should address the need for data management and information services and problems related to data transfer, integration, mapping. Research is needed at EU level for the implementation of international commitments such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and its Kyoto protocol, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the objectives of the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, including the EU Water Initiative, and contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Earth Observation initiative. In addition, there are significant research needs arising from existing and emerging EU level policies, the implementation of the 6th Environmental Action Plan and associated thematic strategies (e.g. the EU marine strategy), the action plans, programmes and directives on Environmental Technologies and Environment and Health, the Water Framework and NATURA 2000. The EU needs to strengthen its position in world markets for environmental technologies. Such technologies contribute to sustainable consumption and production, helping to deliver sustainable growth providing eco-efficient solutions to environmental problems at different scales and protecting our cultural and natural heritage. Environmental requirements act as a stimulus for innovation and can provide business opportunities and higher competitiveness while at the same time ensuring a more sustainable future for next generations. European Technology Platforms on water supply and sanitation and on sustainable chemistry confirm the need for EU level action and their research agendas are taken into consideration in the activities below. Other platforms (e.g. on construction and on forestry) partially deal with environmental technology issues and are taken into consideration as well. Socio-economic issues have a particularly strong influence on the development of environmental technologies and their introduction to the market and subsequent application, as, for example, is the case with water resources management. Activities must consider the socio-economic aspects of policies and technological developments, whenever relevant to the topic. A series of activities are listed below Complementary research relating to the production and use of biological resources is addressed under the ‘Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology’ theme. many of which are directly relevant to policy needs. However, additional support may be provided to new policy needs that emerge, for example, in relation to sustainability impact assessments of EU policies; the follow up to the post-Kyoto action on climate change; and new environmental policies such as those in the European Soil Strategy and relating to maritime policy, standards and regulations.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.