What progress has the EU made against climate change? (infographics)
The EU has set ambitious and concrete targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Check out the progress towards its climate change goals.
Fighting climate change is a priority for the EU. It has committed to a series of measurable objectives and taken several measures to reduce greenhouse gases. What progress against climate change has already been achieved?
EU progress towards its climate change goals
The EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990 by 2030 and to become climate neutral by 2050. These targets became legally binding with the adoption of the EU climate law in 2021 as part of the European Green Deal.
Emissions have been consistently decreasing from 1990 to 2023. It is estimated that in 2023, EU emissions were 37% lower than in 1990, after a significant 8% drop compared to 2022.
This is the biggest year-on-year drop in emissions in decades, except for the drop caused by the Covid pandemic in 2020. The progress was due to a decline in coal use and growth of renewable energy sources and supported by reduced energy consumption across Europe.
However, the EU and EU countries may have to do more to reach the climate change targets for 2030 and 2050. According to member states’ latest projections based on existing measures, the net emission reduction would only be about 43% by 2030. Adding planned but not yet launched measures by EU countries, the projected reduction would be 49% by 2030.
Progress in energy and industry sectors
To meet its climate targets, the EU is taking action in several areas. One of them is the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) that covers greenhouse gas emissions from large-scale facilities in the power and industry sectors, as well as the aviation sector, which accounts for about 40% of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions.
Between 2005 and 2023, emissions from power plants and factories covered by the EU emissions trading system fell by 47%,driven largely by large reductions in the energy supply sector (where emissions halved compared to 2005) and the industrial sector (emissions were cut by more than a third). The goal is to reduce emissions under the Emissions Trading System by 62% by 2030 compared to the 2005 level.
Emission trends by EU country
To reduce emissions from other sectors (buildings, agriculture, small industry and waste, as well as domestic transport, but not aviation), EU countries set out the national emission reduction targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation. The emissions from the sectors covered by national targets were 18% lower in 2022 than in 2005, while the 2030 reduction target is 40% less than in 2005.
The building sector has seen an important decline in its emissions (more than 30% reduction compared to 2005 in 2023) but progress has been slower in the agriculture and transport sectors.
EU countries are required to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the sectors covered by the Effort Sharing Regulation between 10% and 50% by 2030 compared to 2005. The national targets that have been set take into account each country’s gross domestic product per capita and the cost-effectiveness of the measures. In addition, EU countries will have to ensure they do not exceed their annual greenhouse gas emission allocation.
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