The EEA report ‘— cities and their commuting zones — in the European Union (EU) and the UK. These areas symbolize 23% of the land territory and host 75% of the inhabitants of the EU and UK.
’ analyses new knowledge from the Urban Atlas of the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service. The knowledge focuses on land use adjustments and socio‑financial traits in 662 purposeful city areasThe knowledge present that, between 2012 and 2018, land take in the city areas of the EU and UK elevated by 3 581 km2 and soil sealing elevated by estimated 1 467 km², principally at the expense of croplands and pastures. The soil sealing induced a loss of potential carbon sequestration, estimated at 4.2 million tonnes of carbon throughout the monitoring interval.
Almost 80% of land take occurred in commuting zones, which are sometimes essential for wildlife, carbon sequestration, flood safety, and provide of meals and fibres, the EEA report reminds. Commuting zones have rather more synthetic areas per individual than cities, which signifies that their land use is much less environment friendly. Adding to pressures on nature, habitats in city areas get fragmented as a result of of land take and, with a median measurement of 0.25 km², they’re about 4 occasions smaller than in rural areas.
The EEA report warns that persevering with land take destroys biodiversity and makes Europe more and more weak to pure disasters. Stopping land degradation and restoring wetlands, peatlands, coastal ecosystems, forests, grasslands, and farmland are key to stopping biodiversity decline and adapting to local weather change. Similar messages are raised most lately in the second Global Land Outlook report by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Currently, there isn’t a legally binding coverage goal in relation to land take and soil sealing at the EU degree. However, the new EU soil technique for 2030 calls on Member States to set land take targets for 2030, with the goal of reaching land take neutrality by 2050.