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Evaluating 15 Years of Transport and Environmental Policy Integration

 
EEA Report No 7/2015
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Evaluating 15 Years of Transport and Environmental Policy Integration

TERM 2015: Transport indicators tracking progress towards environmental targets in Europe

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European Environment Agency (2015): Evaluating 15 years of transport and environmental policy integration - TERM 2015: Transport indicators tracking progress towards environmental targets in Europe. EEA Report No 7/2015, European Environment Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Since 2000 the Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TERM) has monitored the progress of the integration of environmental objectives into transport policy in the EU. The TERM 2015 report investigates key developments in the transport sector with regards to environment, identifying what has improved and what has been a barrier to the sector's environmental performance. Ecologic Institute contributed to the TERM 2015 report with a chapter on transport and biodiversity. The full report is available for download.

Transport can negatively affect biodiversity in a variety of ways. The design and use of road, rail and waterborne transport infrastructure alters the quality and connectivity of habitats and can create physical barriers to the movement of plants and animals between habitat areas. Species can be injured or killed by vehicles, become isolated by habitat fragmentation, or exhibit behavioural changes that put their survival at risk, such as feeding on or near roads or changes in migratory behaviour. The development and use of transport infrastructure can also increase pollution levels in surrounding habitats and serve as a vector for the spread of non-native and invasive species. The chapter highlights a number of policies that have been introduced establishing procedures and obligations to minimise such consequences. However, gaps remain concerning their implementation in practical terms.

The report concludes that more ambitious measures and improved implementation are necessary in the transport sector to meet existing policy goals.

The TERM 2015 report analyses how the transport sector and its effect on the environment have evolved in Europe since 2000, with a contribution on transport and biodiversity by Ecologic Institute.

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Language
English
Authorship
Keighley McFarland
Sandra Naumann
Funding
Published in
EEA Report, No 7/2015
Published by
Year
Dimension
79 pp.
ISBN
978-92-9213-714-4 713-7
ISSN
1977-8449
DOI
Project
Project ID
Table of contents
Keywords
biodiversity, transport, European Union, TEN-T, Nature Directives, Natura 2000, Water Framework Directive, habitat fragementation, conservation
Europe