Air pollution impacts on ecosystems

Client

European Commission (DG Environment)

Focus: The focus of the project was to provide the Commission with a detailed analysis, both qualitative and quantitative, of the ecosystem monitoring information and data submitted by Member States under Articles 9 and 10(4) of the NEC Directive for the 2022/2023 reporting period.  The analysis reviewed an extensive range of parameters, including the completeness, comparability, consistency and relevance of the data.

Purpose of the Project

The data analyses ultimately sought to assess the effectiveness of the NEC Directive by answering two key questions based on the submitted data:  

• Can anything be discerned about the state of ecosystems by comparing data across biogeographical regions; and
• Can simple causal chains be demonstrated through the data, between emissions and final ecosystem outcomes. 

What we delivered alongside partners RIVM and INERIS

• A complete analysis of the 2022 Member States’ submissions on monitoring sites and parameters lists, including assessments of timeliness and completeness, distribution of sites and measured parameters, comparability and consistency across the network, across Member States, and over time;

• An analysis of the 2023 data submissions by Member States, and comparison with the 2022 submissions;

• A simple logic model, and comparison of Member State data submissions to steps in the model, to identify if it was possible to construct a complete causal chain from emissions to impacts; and

• Key messages from the data, and a series of recommendations for both the Commission and Member States to enhance the value of the datasets, and ensure that the data can support policy development. 

The published reports and summary report are available here.

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