The Malta Sociological Association (MSA) notes the evaluation of the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) for 2022–2026 and recognises their important contribution to evidence-informed environmental policymaking.
The MSA recommends strengthening the social dimension of environmental information and monitoring. Environmental change and environmental policies have uneven impacts across different social groups and territories. EEA and Eionet reporting should therefore further integrate social indicators concerning inequality, health, employment, housing, mobility, energy poverty, environmental justice and community wellbeing, where relevant.
Greater integration of the social sciences, including sociology, within environmental research and monitoring would help policymakers understand not only environmental change, but also who is affected, how, and with what social consequences. Particular attention should be given to small island states, peripheral regions and coastal communities, where environmental, economic and social pressures are often closely interconnected.
The MSA also recommends that EEA evidence increasingly support the mainstreaming of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) alongside environmental and economic assessment in EU policymaking. Socially and territorially disaggregated evidence can strengthen SIA by identifying unequal impacts, vulnerable groups and potential unintended consequences.
Strengthening these dimensions would enhance the contribution of the EEA and Eionet to socially just, inclusive and evidence-informed environmental governance across the European Union.
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