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New EPA in Wales
[posted on: 12/04/2013]Natural Resources Wales brings together the work of the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales and Forestry Commission Wales, as well as some functions of Welsh Government.
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New EPA to be created in Norway
[posted on: 12/04/2013]
The Directorate for Nature Management and the Climate and Pollution Agency are being merged to form the Norwegian Environment Agency with effect from 1 July 2013.
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Green Growth indicators in Slovakia
[posted on: 14/03/2013]
Policies that promote green growth need to be founded on a good understanding of the different factors that affect green growth, and appropriate information is needed to monitor progress and measure results. As part of Green Growth Strategy, the OECD has developed a conceptual framework and indicators that help governments monitor progress towards green growth. According this conceptual framework
Sweden
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, created in 1967, is the national agency for environmental protection and nature conservation as well as outdoor recreation and hunting. Its key tasks are to present proposals for environmental policy and legislation to the Swedish Government and ensure that environmental policy decisions are implemented. The Agency complies with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard and EMAS for both direct and indirect environmental impact.
A living environment - now and in the future
The Swedish EPA supplies expert knowledge and proposals to central government in its national, EU and international work on environmental issues. Nationally the Agency regulates, sets standards and acts as a guide, coordinator and evaluator. Some 100 Swedish EPA employees are involved as experts and Swedish representatives in EU-related work and in international multilateral or bilateral cooperation.
Funded by central government, the Swedish EPA is an independent authority acting on the basis of a government ordinance that defines its terms of reference.
Areas of responsibility
- Providing guidance on environmental and regulatory issues to other national agencies as well as to regional and local authorities;
- Evaluating the effectiveness of different measures in attaining the National Environmental Quality Objectives and proposing new measures where necessary;
- Monitoring and reporting on the state of the environment;
- Developing environmental policy instruments, including environmental legislation;
- Appearing in courts (principally on licensing matters);
- Promoting sustainable treatment of waste;
- Funding environmental research;
- Communicating expert knowledge;
- Funding environmental protection (i.e. liming of acidified lakes, site remediation and grants to local climate investment programmes);
- Protecting land and water (including Natura 2000 sites);
- Dealing with hunting and wildlife issues;
- Promoting outdoor recreation;
- Cooperating multilaterally and bilaterally with other countries.
Staff and budget
The Swedish EPA is an agency where the highest decision-making authority lies solely with the Director General and the Director-General is appointed by the Government. The Agency has offices in Stockholm, Östersund and Kiruna, and among its 550 employees it is possible to find natural scientists, engineers, lawyers, economists and social scientists. Three councils are attached to the agency. These councils fulfil various functions, i.e. advising the Agency regarding decisions on specific matters.
The Agency has a budget for administration (mainly salaries and rent) of approximately SEK 360 million (EUR 40 million). In addition to this, the Agency has a budget of approximately SEK 2.5 billion earmarked for implementation of various aspects of environmental policy (e.g. purchase of land, site remediation, local investment programmes, monitoring and reporting).
Organisation chart: 
Website: www.swedishepa.se and www.miljomal.nu
Click here to see the location on map
