Greenhouse gas emissions under the EU ETS

Since its launch in 2005, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) has played a central role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power generation and energy-intensive industries. Emissions from stationary installations fell by 52% between 2005 and 2025, supported by carbon pricing, fuel switching and the expansion of renewable energy. While aviation emissions have rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels, projections suggest that stationary-installation emissions are broadly progressing at the pace needed towards 2030.

Figure 1. Historical and projected emissions from stationary installations covered by the EU Emissions Trading System in the European Economic Area

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a ‘cap and trade’ system that sets a declining cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary installations, including power plants and energy-intensive industries, as well as on flights within the European Economic Area since 2012 and international shipping since 2024. The overall cap decreases annually to align with EU climate targets. Since its launch in 2005, the EU ETS has increased in scope and ambition.

Between 2005 and 2025, emissions from stationary installations have declined by 52%. Key drivers of these reductions include a carbon price set by the EU ETS, shifts in relative fuel prices that encouraged a move away from coal, and the deployment of renewable energy sources. Energy efficiency improvements, significant reductions in the industrial sector, and global events such as the 2008 economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as energy crises in the 2020s have contributed. Data for 2025 shows a small decrease of 2% in emissions from stationary installations compared to 2024. While this reduction kept emissions below the cap, it was smaller than the sharp 16% drop between 2022 and 2023 - the largest annual reduction since the EU ETS began. The slower decline in 2025 suggests that part of the exceptionally rapid reduction in preceding years reflected temporary factors linked to the energy crisis, alongside longer-term structural changes in the energy system.

According to projections provided by participating countries, GHG emissions are expected to be 57% below 2005 levels by 2030 under a ‘with existing measures’ (WEM) scenario. Under the more ambitious ‘with additional measures’ (WAM) scenario, emissions are projected to be 62% below 2005 levels by 2030. This indicates progress broadly consistent with the pace required under the EU ETS.

The power sector and, to a lesser extent, manufacturing industries, are expected to account for most of the projected reduction in EU ETS emissions. As power generation becomes increasingly decarbonised, achieving further reductions under the EU ETS will depend increasingly on the transformation of industry, aviation and maritime transport, alongside continued deployment of low-carbon energy.

Figure 2.

Most EU ETS emission reductions over the past decade can be attributed to fuel combustion, particularly in the power sector, reflecting the ongoing decarbonisation of the European energy system.

In 2025, emissions from fuels combustion and cement clinker production continued to fall, albeit more slowly than in 2024, while emissions from oil refining and iron and steel production remained broadly stable. Aviation presents a contrasting trend. Emissions in 2025 were more than 30% above their 2013 level and accounted for 5% of total EU ETS emissions. Following the temporary collapse in air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, aviation emissions have rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels, highlighting the continuing challenge of decarbonising the sector. Maritime transport, included in the EU ETS since 2024, accounted for 8% of total EU ETS emissions in 2025.

Supporting information

Definition

This indicator shows greenhouse gas emissions covered under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) since its inception in 2005. It also shows projections of the emissions to 2030 and the maximum number of emissions allowances (cap) foreseen.

Figure 2 shows the evolution of emissions, in percentage change since 2013, for selected industrial sectors and for aviation. The year 2013 was chosen since it is the first year offering a comparable scope in sectoral categories.

Detailed data and information on historical ETS emissions can be found in the ETS data viewer and associated documentation. Information on GHG Projections can be found in the dedicated data viewer, datahub and Climate and Energy platform.

Geographical scope:

The EU ETS applies in the European Economic Area, comprising all the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. The United Kingdom does not participate in the EU ETS since 2021 and has been excluded from this indicator, with the exception of power plants in Northern Ireland. For aviation, the EU ETS includes flights departing and landing within the European Economic Area, as well as flights to Switzerland and the UK. Since 2024, the scope also covers flights between the outermost regions of the EU, such as the Canary Islands, Madeira and the French overseas departments, and other Member States, while flights within the same Member State remain exempted until 2030. For extra-European flights the obligations under the EU ETS Directive can be fulfilled through the Carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (CORSIA). For maritime transport, the EU ETS covers CO₂ emissions from ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above. It covers 100% of emissions from voyages between two European Economic Area (EEA) ports and from emissions at berth in EEA ports, and 50% of emissions from voyages between an EEA Port and a port outside of EEA.

Sectors:

The EU ETS applies to stationary facilities covering the electricity and heat sector and energy-intensive industries, over certain thresholds. Flights departing and landing within participating countries are also covered by the ETS, as well as flights from EEA countries to UK and Switzerland. From 2024, international shipping has been included for commercial cargo and passenger ship of 5,000 gross tonnage and above. The geographical coverage of aviation and maritime transport is set out above. For more information on the scope of the ETS please visit the dedicated Commission’s website.

Projections:

The projections from EU Member States, Iceland and Norway were provided by the countries to the EEA as part of their reporting under Article 18 of the Governance Regulation. As Norway only provided projections for years 2025 and 2030, a linear interpolated factor was applied for the years in between, and the reported EU ETS emissions were used for years before 2025. Emissions from Liechtenstein are projected to be zero like their ETS emissions in 2021 and 2022.

Targets:

The indicator considers the current scope of the EU ETS. More information is available in DG CLIMA’s website. The Carbon offsetting reduction scheme for international aviation.

Methodology

Data on emissions from the EU ETS originates from the European Commission's Union Registry website. These data are then processed by the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Mitigation (ETC-CM). More information available on the ETC-CM documentation (under the tab Additional Information).

Data used for this indicator have been extracted on the 12 of October 2026.

The scope of the EU ETS has changed since its inception, with new sectors, gases and countries being added. To make emissions comparable across years, an estimate was made to reflect the current scope across the whole timeline (i.e. how emissions would have been in the past if the current scope was applied). This scope estimate can be found here as a supporting document under the recent datasets.

Projections of greenhouse gases are provided by Member States to the EEA under the Governance Regulation. This occurs every two years with some Member States providing updates yearly.

Policy/environmental relevance

The EU ETS is a cornerstone of the EU's policy to combat climate change and its key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. It is the world's first major carbon market and remains the biggest one.

The EU ETS is a ‘cap and trade system’, whereby a cap (i.e. a determined quantity of emission allowances) is set on the emissions from the installations covered by the system. The cap decreases gradually in order to achieve emission reductions over time. Installations can trade emission allowances with one another, which ensures that emission reductions take place where it costs the least.

This indicator helps monitoring the reduction in emissions under this key mechanism and tracking the progress towards the agreed target. It also illustrates differences between different industrial sectors and aviation, highlighting differences in progress among them.

Accuracy and uncertaintiesData sources and providers

Metadata

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Greenhouse gas emissions under the EU ETS

Figure 1. Historical and projected emissions from stationary installations covered by the EU Emissions Trading System in the European Economic Area

Figure 2.

Supporting information

Metadata

References and footnotes