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The Croatia country profile provides a concise overview of key trends across three dimensions: environment and climate; socio-economic change; and system change (energy, mobility and food) in the country. It highlights the main developments and challenges in these areas, including measures to support progress towards sustainability in Croatia. An assessment for each of the three dimensions was prepared by national experts from the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) in Croatia, based on 20 established indicators from the EEA or Eurostat.

Croatia, the newest EU Member State, faces many challenges and opportunities in its shift to a green future. As part of the Mediterranean basin, which is warming faster than the global average, increasing resilience to extreme weather and wildfire risks is a priority. As we continue to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we are faced with the need to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, ensure sustainable tourism, strengthen the resilience of infrastructure and ecosystems, ensure food security and develop smart, green cities.

Youth education is crucial for sustainability, with a need for an intensified and more systematic implementation of educational programmes. Zero-pollution efforts have played a key role in the development of municipal wastewater treatment systems, while air quality improvements aligned with the EU’s Clean Air for Europe Directive are gaining attention. Significant challenges remain in improving the quality of sorted waste, reducing landfilling and decreasing food waste.

To enable the sustainable use of the marine ecosystem and address climate change mitigation and adaptation, Croatia, as a maritime country, aims to protect 30% of the Adriatic Sea under its national jurisdiction. Less than 1% of land is strictly protected, while half of the surface is part of the Dinaric karst, a global biodiversity hotspot. The current focus is on establishing effective adaptive management in protected areas, restoring ecosystems in bad condition and strictly protecting all remaining primary and old-growth forests.

1Environment and climate2Socio-economic change3System change
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Summary assessment

Over the last decade, Croatia has made progress in reducing environmental pressures and advancing the green transition. However, challenges remain in accelerating climate change mitigation and adaptation, improving waste management and air quality, enhancing the circular economy and increasing the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation, particularly in marine ecosystems. Despite a significant portion of its territory being protected (see country indicator on 'Designated terrestrial protected areas'), Croatia’s species and habitats continue to show negative trends in terms of conservation. While the area under organic farming has expanded (see country indicator on 'Area under organic farming'), this has not been matched by a proportional market presence of local organic products. Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) capacity has declined due to climate extremes and logging (see country indicator on 'Greenhouse gas emissions and removals in land and forests'), highlighting the need for robust carbon sequestration policies.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have decreased due to the emissions trading system (see country indicator on 'Total greenhouse gas emissions (without LULUCF)'), but emission trends for traffic, waste and fluorinated gases remain unsatisfactory, requiring additional measures to meet 2030 targets. Progress has been made in improving renewable energy production (see country indicator on 'Share of renewable energy in final energy consumption') and reducing energy consumption (see country indicator on 'Final energy consumption'). However, Croatia continues to face significant climate-related economic losses (see country indicator on 'Climate-related economic losses'), as it is highly vulnerable to climate risks. In densely populated areas of continental Croatia, air pollution from suspended particles (PM2.5 and particulate matter with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM10)) persists during wintertime, although premature deaths due to PM2.5 exposure have decreased notably (see country indicator on 'Health impacts of air pollution').

Further efforts to transition to a circular economy remain crucial for Croatia. Strengthened resilience to climate change, supported by public and private investments and with a focus on environmental innovation, nature-based solutions and socioeconomic prosperity, would ensure an effective green transition and healthier ecosystems.

In addition to global challenges, Croatia faces an ageing and declining population, as evidenced by the 9.6% population decrease between 2021 and 2011. In response, the government has adopted the national recovery and resilience plan to stimulate economic recovery and support a transition towards digital and green initiatives.

Abolishing fossil fuel subsidies is an essential step towards addressing climate change and promoting the transition to renewable energy sources, but global circumstances make it unfeasible in the immediate future. In practice, subsidies increased significantly in 2022 (see graph). The total investment in environmental protection and total expenditure on environmental protection have fluctuated over the years. The largest investments in environmental protection were related to wastewater management, while the largest expenditure was related to solid waste management. Croatia generates one of the highest revenues from environment-related taxes in the EU, primarily from energy taxes, followed by taxes related to transport, natural resources and pollution.

Eco-innovation is vital for the shift towards a circular economy, but Croatia ranks low on the eco-innovation scoreboard, particularly in areas such as eco-innovation patents and government funding for research and development. Despite the steady growth of the environmental goods and services sector, its contribution to GDP remains relatively low. To address inflation and rising energy costs, the government has implemented measures that have reduced the proportion of households unable to keep their homes adequately warm. Still, the at-risk-of-poverty rate in 2024 was considerable, with the highest rate recorded among those aged 65 and over. Investment in education is on the rise, yet expenditure on tertiary education per pupil remains low. In 2023, government budget allocations for research and development amounted to 0.7% of GDP, 74.4% of which was directed towards the higher education secto. Further aligning education programmes with labour market demands is essential for Croatia to foster a sustainable society and drive social and economic change.

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The food system

Some of the Croatian priorities in the agro-food sector, specified in the 2023–2027 strategic plan, are:

  • promoting sustainable farming and processing;
  • improving living and working conditions in rural areas;
  • protecting natural resources, biodiversity and the climate;
  • focusing on young and small-scale farmers;
  • fostering higher standards of animal welfare.

Several activities have been implemented to promote healthier food choices, such as a set of dietary guidelines for healthy eating, and the national health promotion programme ‘Healthy living’. This programme introduced a voluntary, front-of-pack nutritional label, with recommended daily intake estimates for energy and nutrients, alongside educational measures, online advice, dietary guidelines for children and additional nutritional recommendations. Croatia operates a school meals programme, delivering food to more than 400 000 children.

Croatia generates less food waste per inhabitant than the EU average. The national plan for the prevention and reduction of food waste aims to reduce food waste by 30% by 2028.

The Croatian strategic plan targets small and middle-sized farms by reallocating funds from larger farms. It aims to attract young people and support rural generational renewal. Environmental sustainability is addressed through stricter environmental requirements and recommended voluntary practices, including organic farming, climate mitigation and adaptation measures, best practices in water and soil management and actions to foster biodiversity and animal welfare.

The green architecture elements in the strategic plan include ‘new’ conditionality as a requirement for direct payments and the integrated administration and control system for beneficiaries of funds, voluntary annual eco-schemes under pillar I of the plan, multi-year voluntary agri-environmental interventions under pillar II and non-productive agricultural investments for nature and the environment. These eco-schemes have gained strong acceptance and interest among farmers.

The Croatian recovery and resilience plan supports the establishment of logistics infrastructure in the fruit and vegetable sector, land monitoring and consolidation, the digital transformation of agriculture and the improvement of the food donation system.

Small-scale farmers are exempt from personal income tax. A reduced rate of 5% value added tax applies to foodstuffs and agricultural input. The provision of food in hospitality facilities is subject to a value added tax rate of 13%.

The exchange of knowledge and the strengthening of innovation and digitalisation have been set as horizontal and cross-cutting goals in the strategic plan. Croatia’s agricultural innovation mechanism is steadily improving, with a focus on enhancing research, development and innovation. Efforts have been made to strengthen connections among those involved in the agricultural knowledge and innovation system and improve knowledge flows to farmers. Croatia has a strong public advisory service, supported by private stakeholders, and is working on establishing a network of innovation brokers.

Croatia has reduced the broadband gap between rural and urban areas, but still needs to improve digital infrastructure, skills and technology use in agriculture.

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The energy system

The energy development strategy of the Republic of Croatia for 2030, looking ahead to 2050, represents a step towards realising a low-carbon energy system and ensures the transition to a new energy policy that guarantees an affordable, safe and high-quality energy supply. The anticipated energy transition process will be a capital-intensive one.

The financing of the energy transition is primarily expected to come from the private sector, supported by EU funds (e.g. the European Regional Development Fund, Recovery and Resilience Facility, Modernisation Fund, Innovation Fund, emissions trading system). This strategy represents a wide range of energy policy initiatives, which will strengthen the security of the energy supply, gradually reduce energy losses, increase energy efficiency, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase domestic production and the use of renewable energy sources.

Specific emphasis has been placed on the self-consumption of energy from renewable energy sources, the increase in energy efficiency and the reduction of CO2 emissions. This policy is supported by current legislation and other strategic documents, such as the low-carbon strategy, the hydrogen strategy and the integrated national energy and climate plan for Croatia. All these strategic documents support the development of renewable energy sources and new technologies that will promote the decarbonisation of industry (e.g. hydrogen, geothermal, carbon capture and storage technologies).

In 2023, photovoltaics deployment in Croatia increased by 107% compared with 2022, and interest is growing in promoting self-consumption and the production of renewable energy for own needs (in households and industry). Additionally, Recovery and Resilience Facility funds have been allocated to the modernisation and development of electricity systems, battery storage, the decarbonisation of transport, the development of the hydrogen economy and the production of biomethane. Furthermore, a premium system for renewable energy source production was introduced, which will secure fast implementation of renewable energy source projects and decrease the production of electricity from fossil fuels.

In 2030, energy will be produced, transported, transmitted, distributed, traded and managed in a different way than it is today, which implies a gradual transition to a decentralised, digitised and low-carbon system. Croatia will continue to support the EU’s commitment to a unified climate and energy policy and, at the same time, take care of the security of the energy supply and the diversification of its energy sources. With timely implementation of renewable energy source projects, Croatia will ensure that its citizens have secure, clean and affordable energy.

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Assessment of system change – the mobility system

Croatia is currently taking steps to encourage social and behavioural changes concerning sustainable mobility.

Through the 2021–2026 national recovery and resilience plan, efforts are being made to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in the transport sector and to invest in sustainable public transport. In Zagreb and Osijek, the modernisation of the public transport system is being carried out by investing in new low-floor trams. The plan includes investing in electric or hydrogen-powered buses, co-financing new electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles and encouraging the installation of infrastructure for alternative vehicles; such infrastructure for electric vehicles is already in place every 50 km on motorways. The plan also sets out measures to finance the introduction of autonomous electric taxis, with supporting infrastructure adapted for people with disabilities; measures for the greening of maritime transport (introducing zero-emission vessels), inland navigation (equipping ports and piers with infrastructure for waste disposal) and civil aviation (the Zadar Airport greening project); and measures to replace diesel trains with battery-powered electric trains and install the necessary charging infrastructure on non-electrified sections of railways.

Croatia is intensively modernising its railway infrastructure, mostly financed through EU financial instruments. Financing through the Connecting Europe Facility was also approved for a project that will enable berthed container ships to connect to the land power grid in the main Croatian seaport, the Port of Rijeka. The project is to be completed by the middle of 2027.

In July 2023, the first national cycling development plan (2023–2027) was adopted, allocating EUR 166 million for activities that will contribute to the safety of cycling and the daily use of bicycles. The plan endeavours to increase the average investment in cycling per inhabitant from the current EUR 3.2 to EUR 8.87 by the end of 2025. The ultimate goal at the state level is to increase the share of cycling from the current 6% to 8%. Some activities include co-financing the procurement of public bicycle systems, creating bicycle parking areas, constructing new cycling infrastructure, educating children on the value of cycling and promoting cycling through cycling conferences, among other actions.

For more than a decade, national subsidies for the purchase of energy-efficient alternative fuel vehicles have been provided through the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund. In 2024, a public call for the co-financing of energy-efficient vehicles for individuals in the amount of EUR 15 million was published, to which just over 2 100 citizens applied. Vehicles in categories L1–L7 and M1 with electric and plug-in hybrid electric drive were co-financed. The co-financing of M1 hydrogen-powered vehicles was also acceptable, but there was no application for such vehicles. In 2023, the share of electric vehicles in the Croatian vehicle fleet in the M1 category was 0.6%.