European Property Sustainability Matters European Property ...

European Union – examples
of sustainability policy and
initiatives
Although the directives discussed on the previous
pages relate to all the European countries (25
countries with a population exceeding 450 million
residents) it is extremely difficult to identify who
is doing what, and what stage a particular country
has reached in applying directives, especially the
Energy Performance Buildings Directive (EPBD).
Research by a team of environmental experts
at Yale and Columbia Universities in the USA, in
collaboration with the World Economic Forum
and the European Commission, provides a means
of ranking the environmental performance of 146
countries.
The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)
benchmarks the ability of nations to protect the
environment over the next several decades. It does
so by integrating 76 data sets – tracking natural
resource endowments, past and present pollution
levels, environmental management efforts, and the
capacity of a society to improve its environmental
performance – into 21 indicators of environmental
sustainability.
These indicators permit comparison across a range
of issues that fall into the following five broad
categories:
• Environmental systems
• Reducing environmental stresses
• Reducing human vulnerability to environmental
stresses
• Societal and institutional capacity to respond to
environmental challenges
• Global stewardship
While absolute measures of sustainability
remain elusive, many aspects of environmental
sustainability can be measured at least in relative
terms. National positions on various important
elements of environmental stewardship can
therefore be determined and are instructive.
EU member countries ESI ranking
EU rank Country Global rank
1 Finland 1
2 Sweden 2
3 Austria 4
4 Latvia 15
5 Ireland 21
6 Lithuania 22
7 Denmark 26
8 Estonia 27
9 Slovenia 29
10 Germany 31
11 France 36
12 Portugal 37
13 Netherlands 40
14 Slovakia 48
15 Hungary 54
16 United Kingdom 65
17 Greece 67
18 Italy 69
19 Spain 76
20 Czech Republic 92
21 Poland 102
22 Belgium 112
N.B. Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta were not ranked.
Below is a collection of topical issues pertaining
to sustainability and environmental policy in EU
member states and accession countries.
Austria
Spatial planning systems are being upgraded in line
with the principles of Agenda 21, so that national,
regional and local policies integrate economic,
social and environmental objectives when land use
decisions are made.
This concentration on sustainable town planning
is promoting not only brownfield development but
also better co-ordination between planners and
developers in the planning of development schemes
and associated infrastructure. Urban redevelopment
schemes will need to focus on opportunities for
incorporating mixed-use development.
There is to be a greater emphasis on encouraging
such development towards deprived areas through
economic promotion and restrictions in other areas,
as well as a programme of training for planning and
development professionals.
http://www.nachhaltigkeit.at/strategie.
php3?lang=en&p=map_handlungsfelder.php3
19