Science for Environment Policy (SfEP) is a free news and information service published by the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) of the European Commission. It is designed to help busy policymakers keep up-to-date with the latest environmental research findings needed to design, implement and regulate effective policies.
The News Alerts are a cornerstone of the SfEP service. Presented in concise and easy-to-understand newsletter articles, SfEP offers quick access to scientific research on environmental issues.
SfEP also releases regular Future Briefs on the latest environmental topics. Future Briefs are a series of horizon-scanning policy briefs, which explore the evidence around emerging environmental issues.
Our News alert articles and Future Briefs are freely accessible through this site. To access SfEP content published between 2005 and June 2022, please consult the dedicated archive.
News Alerts
The EU aims to achieve ‘good’ environmental status in marine areas across all Member States. This study assesses protected and non-protected sites in the Mediterranean Sea according to key ecological indicators.
Studies that observe physical and behavioural changes in wild species over periods of rising temperature rarely evaluate the role of climate change in relation to simultaneous changes of other environmental factors.
Climate refugia are areas that remain relatively buffered from the effects of climate change over time, enabling them to play a vital role in safeguarding biodiversity.
Freshwater ecosystems in urban areas face a variety of pressures and are often significantly degraded.
Future Briefs
This brief looks at environmental factors that potentially contribute to the emergence of disease and the effects of COVID-19, and environmental impacts that have arisen from COVID-19.
Forests are under pressure by inadequate management practices and climate changes. This research is based on the latest scientific evidence to show how biodiversity, the bioeconomy and climate change mitigation are underpinned by Europe's forests.
Contact Us
Science for Environment Policy (SfEP) is a European Commission initiative. The secretariat is currently run by Ecorys.
For comments on this service, please contact Ecorys at sfep@ecorys.com.
If you would like to contact the editors of SfEP, the Science Communication Unit at UWE, email us at sfep.editorial@uwe.ac.uk. You can use this email to:
- obtain permission to reproduce material from the service in another publication
- suggest a study to be considered for inclusion in the News Alert. Criteria for inclusion are listed in our archive section.
To get in touch with the researchers, please refer to the Source section indicated under each News Alert article.