You can select
Only the tip of the iceberg
Whether orchids or mammals, insects or slugs and snails: nowadays there are a large number of animals and plants under observation. Researchers and dedicated activists work meticulously to record their distribution, count their numbers, and document...
read more
SYKE helped to develop hydrological services in the Andes
Finnish experts helped countries in the Andes region to develop their water, climate and weather services. Due to their geographical location, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru are vulnerable to climate change. Over the course of the multi-year...
read more
Prediction of floods and droughts is an effective measure for adapting to climate change
Operational water management based on accurate and reliable hydrological predictions can be an effective means of limiting the economic and social damage caused by an increasing frequency and intensity of summer rainstorms, droughts and wintry...
read more
Experiments in climate governance
Experimentation has been proposed as a key way in which governance drives sustainability transitions. This article seeks to bring greater coherence to the literature and practice of climate and sustainability governance experiments through a...
read more
Drone reveals hidden plant-soil history effects on crops
Plants not only change soil biology and chemistry during their growth but also via after life effects. These plant history effects are invisible and hidden in the soil, yet are of great importance for the growth of subsequent crops and result in...
read more
Key role of forests in meeting climate targets
Forests play a key role in meeting the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. They cover around 25% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions planned by countries for 2030 in response to the Paris Agreement. In an article published...
read more
Tracking marine and riverine litter – new recommendations published
Marine litter is a threat to both the marine ecosystem and human activities. Two new JRC reports provide recommendations and guidance to EU Member States on how to monitor and identify sources of litter that reach the seas.
read more
Somalia: persistent drought leads to major food security crisis
A failed 2016 rainy season linked to the climate phenomenon La Niña, combined with exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans, have led to extreme drought in the Horn of Africa and a more intense...
read more
No major constraints on winter crops
According to the February issue of the JRC MARS crop monitoring bulletin for Europe, this winter is finishing with no major constraints to winter crops.
read more
Recommendations for tracking marine and riverine litter in Europe
The JRC has recently published two of a series of thematic reports that give recommendations and guidance on how to monitor and identify sources of litter that reach the seas, in order to help design measures to tackle marine litter.
read more
Natural World Heritage Sites under severe pressure from human activities
The first ever global quantification of the impact of humanity on natural World Heritage sites (NWHS) finds that the vast majority of NWHS are under severe pressure from increasing human activities and forest loss. Led by an international team of...
read more
Working together with Lebanon for water infrastructure and agricultural development
World Waternet, Acacia Water and Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra) are working together to support Lebanon using Dutch water and agricultural expertise. This project is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
read more
The new calculator shows how consumption contributes to nutrient pollution in the Baltic Sea
With the calculator developed by the Finnish Environment Institute and the Natural Resources Institute Finland, consumers can determine the impacts of their consumption habits on nutrient pollution in the Baltic Sea. Finland’s contribution to the...
read more
Assessment of water, energy and agricultural needs for sustainable development in the Sava River Basin
A new report co-authored by UNECE-JRC-KTH looking at the Sava River Basin shows that water management planning is needed in order to meet the long-term renewable energy targets.
read more
EU scores high in connectivity of protected areas
A new indicator developed by the JRC enables, for the first time, the measurement of progress towards meeting the UN connectivity target for protected areas. The indicator shows that the objective is far from being reached at the global level. The EU...
read more
Global flood risk to increase five-fold with a 4°C temperature rise
A new JRC report looks at flood risk and economic damages under different global warming scenarios with 1.5˚C, 2˚C, and 4˚C temperature increases. It concludes that, if global temperatures rise by 4°C, the flood risk in countries representing more...
read more
Underwater noise in the Baltic Sea a risk for fish and marine mammals
Underwater noise in the Baltic Sea has been measured for the first time. According to an international project co-led by the Finnish Environment Institute, the level of human-introduced underwater noise is remarkable. However, the situation varies...
read more
Significant JRC contributions to European Environment Agency report on Climate Change
Changes in climate are already having wide-ranging impacts on ecosystems, the economy and on human health and well-being in Europe, according to the report ‘Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2016’, launched today by the European...
read more
Good news for the EU Fishing Fleet – Positive trends in economic performance and sustainability
A JRC-DG MARE report has just been published, showing that the performance of the EU fishing fleet has significantly improved in recent years, moving from a loss-making position in 2008 to record-high net profits of €770 million in 2014 – up from...
read more
Crop monitoring and forecasts for Europe and northern Africa
Today, the JRC issued two MARS (Monitoring Agricultural ResourceS) crop monitoring bulletins: one focussing on the winter hardening and frost damage of winter cereals in Europe, and the second focusing on crop sowing conditions in northern Africa....
read more
Real-time food prices in Africa enabled by new technologies and people's participation
Recent food crises have revealed the importance of timely, reliable and accessible food price information to monitor food security and to support informed policy decision-making, improved market transparency and more efficient value chains. The...
read more
Water purification by Mother Nature and its benefits for society
Water for drinking, home and public use, as well as for agriculture and industry is provided for free by Mother Nature or, as scientists and policy-makers put it, by ecosystem services. A study led by the JRC puts the benefits of this "free" service...
read more
New service for climate-change adaptation in water management
SWICCA, part of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), offers readily available climate-impact data to speed up workflows in climate-change adaptation of water management across Europe. This innovative service also provides a learning network...
read more
Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle's One Million Nest Boxes campaign helping birds in need
The evaluation of threatened bird species in Finland was updated in 2015 under the coordination of the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE. The evaluation concluded that overall the populations of Finnish bird species are on the decline. The number of...
read more
Open data web service on sustainable society opened in Finland
Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) has a new open data web service. SYKE produces open data and information for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable society. SYKE’s open data includes versatile information on water resources,...
read more
Ecosystem services research and stakeholder involvement: between theories and practice
What do people value, why and how? This should be a leading question in sustainability research, but putting it into practise can be tricky. A new paper published in the journal Ecosystem Services looks at how to improve stakeholder participation in...
read more
New funding to tackle tree diseases
Scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology will take part in a new £1million research project to prevent the spread of new diseases, including acute oak decline (AOD), a bacterial infection which has spread into Britain and can kill trees...
read more
MYGEOSS - Third call for innovative apps in the environmental and social domains
MYGEOSS is launching an open call for the development of innovative applications (mobile or web-based) using openly available or crowd-generated data in different domains addressing citizens’ needs. The pool of open data for use includes, but is not...
read more
International partners join to reduce postharvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa
A JRC-initiated system estimating postharvest cereal losses in sub-Saharan Africa will be upgraded to allow for monitoring of other crops and improve postharvest management.
read more
Land under pressure - Final conference of the 7 year research programme "Sustainable Land Management"
Leipzig. The way we use land is changing. Demand for farmland, food and energy seems insatiable, but land is a finite resource. The research programme "Sustainable Land Management" investigated the consequences of this land use under global change...
read more