Indicators

The amount of new electric cars registered in the European Union has grown significantly in the last decade, particularly between 2019 and 2023, with a small decline in 2024. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have become a major part of the new car market, playing a key role in driving down average CO 2 emissions from passenger cars. In 2024, over 1.4 million new BEV were registered in the EU, accounting for 13.6% of new car registrations. Some 800,000 new PHEV were registered (7.3% of new car fleet), implying around 2.2 million new electric cars were added to the market, up from around 400 000 in 2019.

The European Union has made progress in designating new marine protected areas, both as part of the Natura 2000 network and through complementary national designations. As a result, marine protected area coverage more than tripled, to 13.7%, between 2012 and 2023. However, further significant efforts are required to achieve the EU Biodiversity strategy target of protecting at least 30% of EU seas by 2030, while also ensuring that all protected areas are effectively managed. At present it appears unlikely that the target will be met.

The 8th Environment Action Programme aims to significantly cut the EU’s material footprint - the amount of raw material extracted to produce goods and services consumed in the EU. The per capita material footprint has dropped by 5.5% during 2010-2024, including a dip of 6.2% from 2022 to 2023. Raw material extraction was 14.1 tonnes per capita in 2024, considered unsustainable and above the global average. Based on historical trends and projections for future material use, it appears unlikely that the EU will significantly reduce the per capita material footprint in the next decade. Major effort is needed to reduce material consumption, for example by switching to goods and services that require less material or circular business models.

Net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union fell by 36% between 1990 and 2023, including international transport as regulated by EU Climate law. Preliminary estimates indicate a year-on-year drop of 2.5% between 2023 and 2024. Projections based on current policies and measures reported by Member States suggest that a 47% reduction in net emissions will be reached by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Integrating countries' additionally planned policies and measures closes most of the ambition gap - putting the EU at a projected 54% reduction by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

Since its launch in 2005, Europe’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) has aided large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and energy-intensive industries. Carbon pricing, fuel switching and climate policies, including those backing renewable energy, supported a 51% decline in emissions from stationary installations from 2005 to 2024. Aviation, also under the EU ETS, shows a different trend with 2024 emissions rebounding close to pre-pandemic levels. For the ETS scope, including international shipping, projections indicate that the 62% reduction target by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, is within reach.

In 2023, the European Union reached its 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity of fuels sold for road transport to 6% below 2010 levels for the first time. Between 2010 and 2023, the emission intensity decreased by 6.3%, mostly because of the increased use of biofuels. Twelve countries have succeeded in reducing their emission intensities by at least 6%.

Between 2005 and 2023, greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in the European Union fell by 43%. Estimates for 2024 indicate that a further modest reduction of emissions from fossil fuels used in buildings was achieved. 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. The trend towards declining emissions from the buildings sector is expected to continue over the longer term.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport, buildings, agriculture, small industry and waste sectors are regulated by the European Union Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) and have fallen by 19.8% between 2005 and 2023. Preliminary estimates for 2024 show virtually no improvement compared with 2023 levels, leading to emissions slightly above the trajectory for the year. The more ambitious national targets for Effort Sharing emissions adopted in the context of the amendment of the ESR in 2023 require EU countries to step up efforts.

Non-CO 2 greenhouse gas emission reductions from the European Union agriculture sector fell by 7% between 2005 and 2023, and estimates indicate a further 1% reduction between 2023 and 2024. Based on current policies and measures alone, Member States project that their cumulative agricultural emissions will slowly decline. When taking into account additional planned measures, the 2030 reduction from agriculture would reach a level 13% below 2005 levels. This highlights the need for further action to reduce non-CO 2 emissions in the agriculture sector.

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity of power generation in the European Union has continued to fall, confirming the trend of recent decades. Generating one kilowatt hour is estimated to have emitted 9% lower emissions in 2024 on average than in 2023, and 40% less than a decade ago. Climate and energy policies have effectively lowered carbon-intensive electricity supply over time, resulting in less coal use, more renewables and a more efficient EU generation mix.

In 2024, 25.4% of all final energy consumed in the European Union was obtained from renewable sources, about one percentage point more than in 2023. This increase was largely driven by growth of solar and wind power, followed by heat pumps. The share of renewables in Europe is expected to grow further. Meeting the new minimum EU target for renewable sources of 42.5% by 2030 will require doubling the rates of renewables deployment seen over the past decade, and a deep transformation of the European energy system.

The atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other forcing agents, including cooling aerosols, reached 481ppm CO 2 e in 2023. This is close to the upper limit of the peak level that the IPCC states 'should not be exceeded if — with a 67% likelihood and not allowing a temperature overshoot — the global temperature increase is to be limited to 1.5 o C above pre-industrial levels'. If allowing for an overshoot, the peak level could be exceeded before 2028. The peak concentrations corresponding to a temperature increase of 2 o C by 2100 could be exceeded before 2036.

Water scarcity affected 28% of the European Union territory during at least one season in 2023. Although water abstraction declined by 14% in the EU between 2000 and 2023, there has been no overall reduction in the area affected by water scarcity conditions, despite the annual fluctuations. This, compounded with the fact that climate change is expected to further increase the frequency, intensity and impacts of drought events, makes it somewhat unlikely that water scarcity will reduce by 2030.

The Water Framework Directive promotes sustainable water use based on a long-term protection of available water resources. Between 2000-2023, total freshwater abstraction in the European Union decreased by 14%, mainly due to a decline in water abstraction for electricity cooling. However, total water abstraction has remained broadly stable since 2010. Sectoral trends have reversed, with abstraction increasing in public water supply, agriculture and industry. This underlines the need to improve water use efficiency to meet the European Water resilience strategy's 10% target by 2030.

The European Commission's zero pollution action plan (ZPAP) sets a target to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 2005. Between 2005 and 2023, the number of premature deaths in the EU-27 Member States attributable to PM 2.5 concentrations above 5µg/m 3 fell by 57%, achieving the target for 2023. Despite ongoing improvements, there were still 182,000 premature deaths attributable to PM 2.5 in the EU-27 in 2023.

Following two decades of fluctuation, European Union emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) peaked in 2014. They have since fallen by about 38% (by 2023). This can largely be attributed to the EU-wide hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase out specified in the F-gas Regulation, which aims to reduce F-gas emissions and mitigate global warming. HFCs account for the majority of F-gas emissions and the EU is on track to meet its targets for HFC use. It is also on track to meet its international obligation to reduce HFC consumption, in effect since 2019, under the Montreal Protocol.

The EU aims to double recycled material use, in terms of its share of the economy's total material use, between 2020 and 2030 to reach 22.4% by 2030. A goal set in the 8th Environmental Action Programme, an ambition confirmed and even slightly increased to 24% in the Clean Industrial Deal . Increasing the use of secondary materials relatively reduces the demand for primary raw materials and their associated environmental impacts. Secondary materials accounted for 12.2% of total material use in 2024, an increase of 1.5 percentage points compared with 2010. This slow progress, along with projected increased material demand by 2030, implies that the EU is currently not on track to double the circular material use rate by 2030.

The European Union’s primary energy consumption (PEC) in 2024 is estimated to have increased by 1.3% compared to 2023, while final energy consumption (FEC) decreased by 0.9%. PEC represents the total energy demand within a country, including losses, while FEC represents the energy used by final consumers. These estimates, and the historical energy consumption trends across Europe, show that more ambitious developments and decisive action is required to achieve the 2030 PEC and FEC targets set by the EU Energy Efficiency Directive.

The waste recycling rate in Europe has 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 landfilling. Achieving circularity and minimising environmental impacts from natural resource use requires continuous and ambitious waste management policies to incentivise recycling, discourage landfilling and incineration.

In European rivers, oxygen consuming substances decreased over the period 1992 to 2023, which is a consequence of the improvement in wastewater treatment. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) fell to half of the 1992 level, but has been fluctuating at 2.0-2.2mgO 2 /l since 2010. Ammonium concentrations fell to 20% of the 1992 level and have stabilised at less than 0.08mgNH 4 -N/l in the past few years. The economic crisis in central and eastern European countries during the 1990s also contributed to decreasing pollution from manufacturing industries.