The state of the environment across Europe has improved in several respects over the past decade, but much of the progress is likely to be wiped out by economic growth because governments have yet to make significant strides towards decoupling environmental pressures from economic activity.

This is one of the key messages from the European Environment Agency's latest assessment of the environment in Europe.

Europe's Environment: the third assessment has been prepared for the 'Environment for Europe' ministerial conference taking place in Kiev, Ukraine, on 21-23 May under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The two previous assessments were published by the Agency in 1995 and 1998 for the conferences held in Sofia, Bulgaria, and in Aarhus, Denmark.

The new report covers a total of 52 countries, including for the first time the whole of the Russian Federation and the 11 other Eastern European, Caucasus and Central Asian (EECCA) states. It shows that most of the progress towards environmental improvement continues to come from 'end-of-pipe' measures to limit pollution or as a result of economic recession and restructuring in many parts of Europe.

"We know from the past that these gains will be lost again if economic growth continues to be based on traditional, environmentally damaging activities, still prevalent, rather than on more sustainable, eco-efficient options," said Gordon McInnes, EEA Interim Executive Director.

"This is a particular risk for the EU accession countries and the EECCA states, to which large amounts of manufacturing industry have been transferred from western Europe and elsewhere," Mr McInnes added. While highlighting wide differences in the environmental situation between and within the different regional groupings, the report confirms that environmental policies, when properly developed and implemented, have in several fields led to significant improvements in the environment and to lower pressures on it.

For example, substantial reductions have been achieved in Europe's emissions of substances that damage the atmospheric ozone layer. Decreases in acidifying emissions to air and in emissions to water from point sources - such as factories - have generally improved the quality of both media. Protection of the habitats of biologically important plant and animal species has brought some improvement in their situation.

In contrast, environmental policies to curb waste have made no significant headway, and pressures are still increasing on some natural resources, especially fish stocks, top soil and land. Emissions to water from diffuse sources such as agriculture remain a problem.

Economic and social transition since the early 1990s - with western Europe developing into a more service-oriented society and the rest of the continent moving towards a market economy, albeit at different speeds - has resulted in environmental improvements in some fields but degradation in others.

Europe, overall, has seen reductions in its emissions of greenhouse gases. In Central and Eastern Europe and EECCA there has been less pressure on water resources from agriculture and industry. In these countries economic restructuring has also been the major driving force behind reductions in emissions of air pollutants.

On the negative side, land abandonment due to economic restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe and EECCA is threatening biodiversity. Economic growth is making it more difficult for many western European countries to meet their national targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Urban development and transport infrastructure is covering over large areas of productive soil and fragmenting major animal and plant habitats in many places across the region. Overfishing is threatening marine natural resources. As environmental improvements in these areas are mainly determined by the general e