US EPA

For a number of years, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have engaged in sharing insights on various environmental aspects and learning from each other on measuring and assessing progress towards a sustainable and resource efficient economy.

The two agencies co-organized a virtual event in January 2021 around the following objectives:

• To have EEA Executive Director, Hans Bruyninckx, present the European State of the Environment Report (SOER) 2020.
• To discuss the importance of scientific evidence and information regarding the state of the environment and how trusted and actionable knowledge can be transferred through a science-policy interface to policy makers.
• To enhance dialogue between the two Agencies in view of reinforcing existing cooperation.

The full proceedings include a more detailed summary of the plenary speakers’ messages and showcase the discussions that arose during a panel discussion. The EPA Report on the Environment team looks forward to further collaboration with EEA partners working to achieve mutual environmental protection goals.

Background

The main objectives were: 1) to present the European State of the Environment Report (SOER) 2020, initially planned to take place in 2020 by the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, 2) to discuss the importance of scientific evidence and information regarding the state of the environment and how trusted and actionable knowledge can be transferred through a science-policy interface to policy makers, and 3) to enhance dialogue between the two Agencies in view of reinforcing existing cooperation.

More than 440 participants joined the virtual event representing various interests. The SOER 2020 presentation and the panel discussion highlighted several important elements and directions for scientific and actionable knowledge to better inform policy makers. These elements include focusing particularly on consumption and production systems which are driving environmental impacts, bringing social sciences and business strategies into policies, and scaling up innovation into society.

The meeting outcome report includes the final meeting agenda, speaker biographies, and a summary of plenary remarks and panel discussion. The virtual event was organized in the context of the existing EEA - US EPA cooperation framework.

U.S. EPA. Proceedings for Joint European Environment Agency and U.S. EPA Meeting (Final). 2021. U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-21/178, 2021.