Environmental policy relates to water, air, climate, soil, flora, fauna, biodiversity, etc. All have a common spatial dimension. Such thematic information has to be based on, or related to a geographic location and their integration is required across many spatial levels from local to regional, national and European. The ability to monitor and model the impact on the environment of government policy decisions is vital when it comes to better informing these decisions. Such information on the impact of government policy decisions on the environment is a powerful tool and one being increasingly developed by the EC for assessing, modelling and monitoring the development of urban and regional environments. The European INSPIRE initiative aims to better harmonise GI provision across many sectors, but initially environmental information, and will necessitate the national and regional co-ordination of GI services. Due to the complex set of factors that interact with the natural environment, from biological and physical to socio-economic, most of the requirements of the environmental sector are cross-cutting.