Indicators

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulated by the EU Effort Sharing legislation, from the transport, buildings, agriculture, small industry and waste sectors, have fallen 18% between 2005 and 2022. Preliminary estimates for 2023 show a further 2% reduction compared with 2022 levels, keeping the GHG emissions below the established emission trajectory for the year. More ambitious national Effort Sharing emission targets adopted for the Fit-for-55 package will require European Union countries to increase efforts. Member States’ GHG emissions are projected to fall to 34% below 2005 levels by 2030, meaning acceleration is required to reach the 2030 target of 40% reductions in the Effort Sharing sectors.

The land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector plays a key role in achieving the European Union’s goal of zero net emissions by 2050. LULUCF activities removed net 236 million tonnes of CO 2 equivalent (MtCO 2 e) from the atmosphere in 2022, equal to 7% of the EU’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Removals are estimated to have grown to 257MtCO 2 e in 2023. The LULUCF Regulation sets an EU-level net removal target of an additional 42MtCO 2 e by 2030, as compared to the 2016-2018 average. Based on Member State projections submitted, this target will not be met. Projections that include planned additional measures foresee a reduction in removals compared with the 2016-2018 average. The 2024 update of National energy and climate plans is expected to contribute to bridging the gap toward the target.

Since its launch in 2005, the Europe’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) has seen greenhouse gas emissions decrease significantly. Carbon pricing, changes in fuel prices and climate policies, including those promoting renewable energy, have driven the emission reductions from stationary installations and contributed considerably to the EU’s climate objectives. In 2023, emissions fell substantially, marking the largest annual reduction since the launch of the ETS. The new 2030 target for ETS aims for a 62% reduction in emissions compared to 2005 levels for the whole ETS scope. Recent projections suggest that - with strong and decisive action - this target may be within reach.

Greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in the European Union fell by 34% between 2005 and 2022. Estimates for 2023 indicate that a further reduction of emissions from fossil fuel used in buildings was achieved last year. This progress was driven by higher energy efficiency standards for new buildings, efficiency improvements in existing buildings, measures to decarbonise the electricity sector and heating systems, and warmer temperatures. Over the longer term, the trend toward declining emissions from the buildings sector is expected to continue.

The share of energy from renewable sources used for road and rail transport in the European Union increased from less than 2% in 2005 to 10.1% in 2023, according to preliminary EEA data. These sources include biofuels, renewable electricity, or hydrogen and synthetic fuels of renewable origin. The share of energy from renewable sources used for transport varies greatly among the EU Member States, ranging from below 4% in Latvia and Croatia and up to 29.5% in Sweden.

The transport sector is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. The sector has shown little progress in the reduction of emissions in recent decades. Despite efforts to reduce emissions from transport, such as increasing the deployment of electric vehicles, emissions have not significantly decreased since 2005. Estimates of 2023 emissions indicate a small drop of 0.8% compared with 2022. Member States project that domestic transport emissions will only fall below their 1990 levels in 2032. International aviation and maritime emissions are projected to continue increasing.

Non-indigenous species pose a significant threat to biodiversity and are a key focus of European Union policy efforts. Around 779 have been reported in Europe's seas, with the rate of new introductions steadily rising since 1970. The average annual rate of new introductions quadrupled compared to the 1970's in the last six-year assessment period of 2012-2017. Half of these introductions occurred via the transport-stowaway/shipping pathway, with 14% through corridors such as manmade waterways that connect adjacent non-EU waters. Stronger action is needed to reduce the risk of new introductions, including harmonised monitoring for NIS across Europe's seas.

While non-CO 2 greenhouse gas emission reductions from the European Union agriculture sector are covered by national targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), they only fell by 5% between 2005 and 2022. Estimates indicate that these emissions fell by a further 2% between 2022 and 2023. Member States project that their cumulative agricultural emissions would increase by 2030 based on current policies and measures alone. The total reduction of agricultural emissions by 2030 would reach a level 7% below 2005 levels with the implementation of additional, currently planned measures. This highlights the need for further action to reduce non-CO 2 emissions in the agriculture sector.

Pesticides were assessed against effect or quality thresholds between 2013 and 2022. One or more pesticides were detected above their effect threshold at 9% to 25% of all surface water monitoring sites. Exceedances were often caused by imidacloprid , cypermethrin and metolachlor . Exceedances of one or more pesticides were detected at between 4% and 13% of groundwater monitoring sites, mainly by atrazine and its metabolites, glyphosate and bentazone . Differences in weather, crop type and reporting mean that changes between years may not be significant.

The European Union has not reached its own 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuels sold for road transport to 6% below 2010 levels. Between 2010 and 2022, the emission intensity decreased by 5.6%, mostly because of the increased use of biofuels. Nine countries have succeeded in reducing their emission intensities by more than 6%.

Further progress in the uptake of electric cars and vans was made in all 27 EU Member States in 2023. Electric vehicles accounted for 22.7% of new car registrations and 7.7% of new van registrations. In total, 2.4 million new electric cars were registered in 2023, up from 2 million in 2022. Registrations of new battery electric cars grew by 37%, while the number of newly registered plug-in hybrid cars fell by almost 4%. In 2023, a total of 91,000 new electric vans were registered, most of which were battery electric.

Increasing forest connectivity is crucial for supporting biodiversity. Connectivity within stocked forest areas is limited by elements fragmenting the tree cover. The European Union's average forest connectivity was 80.6% in 2021, a 0.8% decrease from 2018. The EU has effective policies promoting forest connectivity. However, the effects of these policies will take time to appear as pest and fire outbreaks which intensify with climate change lead to immediate, often temporary, losses in connectivity. Therefore, it is unlikely that forest connectivity will increase by 2030.

The EEA's European Climate Risk Assessment concludes that Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world. Monitoring impacts of meteorological droughts supports policy measures, targeting greenhouse gas removals and the adaptation of ecosystems to climate change. In 2023 drought impact on European ecosystems eased after the devastating previous year. The European Union aggregated drought impact area was 143,513 km 2 , larger than the 2000-2020 long-term average drought impact. If global mitigation and EU and national adaptation strategies are not effectively implemented, drought impacts will increase.

Net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 31% in the EU-27 between 1990 and 2022, including international transport as regulated by European Union law. Preliminary estimates indicate an additional record year-on-year reduction of 8% in 2023, marking significant progress towards climate neutrality for the EU. Current GHG projections, as reported by Member States, suggest that a 49% reduction in net emissions will be reached by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, missing the 55% reduction target for 2030. More ambitious policies and measures are being developed in ongoing updates of the National energy and climate plans to put the EU on track to reach the 2030 climate target, and on the trajectory towards climate neutrality.

The 8th Environment Action Programme urges the European Union to significantly reduce its consumption footprint, i.e. the global environmental and climate impacts of EU residents’ consumption. Global impacts from the EU’s consumption showed some variation during 2010-2022, yet the 2022 value increased by 4% since 2010. Rising trends over the past three years indicate challenges ahead in the effort to reduce these impacts in the near future. Consuming differently, consuming less and focusing on product eco-design are effective strategies to reduce environmental impacts of consumption.

The European Commission zero pollution action plan aims to reduce ecosystems at risk of eutrophication caused by atmospheric nitrogen deposition by 25% in the European Union by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The total area where nitrogen deposition exceeded the alleged critical loads for eutrophication - the parameter that measures such a risk - fell by 13% between 2005 and 2022. Initiatives such as the National Emission reduction Commitments Directive, Farm to Fork strategy and Biodiversity strategy for 2030 are key frameworks to further reduce the risk of eutrophication in ecosystems.

Total per capita waste generation remained near stable in the European Union between 2010 and 2022. Waste generation historically follows trends in economic growth, e.g. during the 2020 economic slowdown and recovery thereafter. The EU aims to signficantly decrease its total waste generation by 2030. Although the observed stability and decoupling of waste generation from economic growth is encouraging, the latest data indicates that the link between economic growth and waste generation remains. Therefore, it is unlikely that waste generation will substantially decrease by 2030.

The waste recycling rate in Europe has steadily increased due to EU binding recycling targets, indicating progress towards using more waste as a resource and achieving a circular economy. However, progress has stagnated recently and in some cases reversed, with total waste recycling rates lower in 2022 than a decade earlier. The majority of waste was still disposed of through incineration or landfill operations in 2022. Achieving circularity and minimising environmental impacts from natural resource use requires continuous ambitious waste management policies to incentivise recycling and discourage landfills and incineration.

A key goal of European Union waste policy is to cut the amount of waste sent to landfill. Europe's overall landfill rate has decreased from 23% to 17% between 2010 and 2022. However, the total amount of waste generated has continued to increase. Landfilled waste quantities in 2022 were 21% lower in the same period, equivalent to 306kg of waste per year by each EU citizen in 2022. For some waste streams, such as (mixed) household and similar waste, relatively good progress has been made towards diverting waste from landfill. However, the amount of sorting residues sent to landfill has doubled since 2010.

The 8th Environment Action Programme aims to significantly reduce the EU’s material footprint, meaning the amount of raw material extracted to produce goods and services. The per capita material footprint remained stable during 2010-2022 and dropped by 4.5% in 2023. Raw material extraction was 14.1 tonnes per capita in 2023, which is considered unsustainable and above the global average. Based on historical trends, It appears unlikely that the EU will significantly reduce the per capita material footprint in the coming decade unless the 2023 drop continues. Major effort is needed to reduce extraction and consumption, by switching to goods and services that require less material.