Agreement to Provide Information on Land Cover Under GMES

On 25 May 2011 and on the occasion of a Green Week event in Brussels, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission signed an agreement to provide detailed information on land cover in Europe, under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme. The EEA will manage a EUR 20 million budget over the period 2011-2013 to coordinate technical implementation of the continental and local GMES land monitoring services.

The Delegation Agreement, which contracts the European Environment Agency (EEA) to implement the initial operations of land monitoring services during the period 2011-2013, was signed between Professor Jacqueline McGlade – Executive Director of EEA – and Mr Heinz Zourek – Director General for European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry –.

Professor McGlade declared: "Information from the GMES land monitoring service can be used for real-time environmental stewardship, providing early warnings of potential disasters and environmental damage. All kinds of public authorities can use the tool to develop strategies to tackle challenges such as climate change, deforestation, river pollution, soil erosion or urban growth. Using the latest technology in this way allows us to get an increasingly accurate picture of complex and interconnected environmental problems."

The EEA will manage a EUR 20 million budget over the three-year period 2011-2013 to coordinate technical implementation of the continental and local GMES land monitoring services. The EEA will work closely with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, who will be responsible for coordinating the global component of the GMES land monitoring services.