EEA, 2015. The European environment — state and outlook 2015: Assessment of global megatrends, European Environment Agency

The European environment — state and outlook 2015 (SOER 2015) provides a comprehensive assessment of the European environment's state, trends and prospects, and places it in a global context. It informs European environmental policy implementation between 2015 and 2020, and analyses the opportunities to modify existing policies, and the knowledge used to inform those policies, in order to achieve the European Union's 2050 vision of living well within the limits of the planet.

Many global trends have significant consequences for Europe. For example, demographic, economic or geopolitical developments elsewhere can influence the availability and price of natural resources and energy in Europe.

The report assesses 11 global megatrends (GMT) of importance for Europe’s environment in the long term. In assessing key drivers, trends and implications for Europe, it aims to provide an improved basis for strategic European environmental policymaking.

SOER 2015 is based on objective, reliable and comparable environmental information, and draws upon the evidence and knowledge base available to the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet), a network of 39 European countries. Extended background assessments of the 11 megatrends are available here.