Europe and the CIS have relatively stable populations. Annual population growth rates are low, ranging from slightly negative up to 1 per cent (World Bank, 1996). National populations tend to be rather static, though a wave of migration, mainly east to west, has occurred since the breakup of the centrally planned economies (EEA, 1995a).
The region, apart from the FSU, is relatively densely populated and highly urbanized. With two thirds of Europeans in western and central countries already living in urban areas, current urbanization rates are low except in Turkey with around 4.5 per cent urban growth per annum (WRI/UNEP/UNDP/WB, 1996). Europe s urban population lives on around 1 per cent of the total land area (EEA, 1995a). A European city of 1 million inhabitants typically consumes about 11,500 metric tons of fossil fuels, 320,000 metric tons of water, and 2,000 metric tons of food daily. It also produces 300,000 metric tons of wastewater and 1,600 metric tons of solid waste plus 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (EEA, 1995a).
Many of Europe s major concerns are linked to the highly concentrated consumption of resources and production of wastes of these densely populated areas, and to the fact that per capita production and consumption rates are among the highest in the world. For example, with less than a quarter of the world s population, the region accounts for some 40 per cent of the world s energy consumption (EEA, 1995a). Excluding the FSU, consumption of energy in Europe is greater than production; Europe is therefore contributing to energy resource depletion elsewhere in the world. The new democratic and open societies in CEE are now establishing western-style consumption patterns. In addition, the increasing number of households and the small average household size (2.7 people) in Europe tend to exacerbate this situation. Smaller households use water and energy less efficiently and require more land per household member, which leads to greater per-capita resource use (EEA, 1995a).
The enormous consumption of natural resources has now been recognized as one of the root causes for the destabilization of the ecosphere. Not only do the nature and magnitudes of inputs into human economies determine all outputs (emissions, effluents, wastes, material goods), but the very displacement of resources from natural settings by technical means leads inevitably to ecological changes. Displacements can be huge. In the former West Germany, for example, it has been calculated that more than 530 million tons of construction materials alone were moved from one location in the country to another during 1990 (Schütz and Bringezu, 1993). Therefore, precautionary environmental policies must be very much concerned with resource productivities on all levels.
The distribution of goods to meet demands is having a significant and increasing impact on the environment, especially where motor vehicles are the main form of transport (UN-ECE, 1995). Concerning private transport, western Europe now has more cars than households since the number of cars almost doubled between 1970 and 1990 (EEA, 1995a). In CEE, increasing private car ownership has overwhelmed the existing transportation infrastructure. While new road networks are now being built, the preservation and further development of public transport systems that are already in place in many cities could be better for the environment (REC, 1994).
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