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2.1 Greenhouse gas emissions

Addressing climate change is one of the defining challenges of our times. The reduction of GHG emissions is vital to slow the rate of global warming and mitigate its impact on our environment, economy and health. This snapshot presents the evolution of net GHG emissions in the EU, covering emissions from activities such as energy production, industrial production, transport and agriculture and including carbon removals from the atmosphere and emissions from international transport as regulated by EU legislation.

2.2 Trends in the mobility system

All the actors and elements enabling the movement of people and goods in Europe are collectively referred to as the mobility system. Actors include vehicle manufacturers, citizens, service providers, construction firms and infrastructure operators (e.g. for rail activities, airports and seaports), along with their funding sources. This briefing highlights key environmental trends in the mobility system, focusing on passenger and freight activity, GHG emissions (in million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent — MtCO₂e) and air pollutants from sectors like road, rail, inland waterways, maritime operations and aviation.

2.3 Trends in the energy system

Modern societies rely on energy for essential needs such as heating, lighting, healthcare, food services, manufacturing, transport and telecommunications. These vital services depend on electricity, heating and transport service provision. To meet these societal needs, the energy system must be secure, affordable and clean. This briefing outlines how the EU energy system must be transformed to align with EU and national targets that aim to reduce harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and dependency on insecure fossil fuel imports.

2.4 Carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in the land sector commonly occurs when atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is sequestered via biological processes and stored temporarily in vegetation, soils or wood products. Industrial CDR options, including processes that permanently store CO 2 in geological formations, are emerging but are still largely in pilot phases. They also tend to be more costly compared to CDR options in the land sector . This briefing looks mainly at terrestrial CDR as covered by the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation, in view of the available reporting data. The country profiles of Europe’s environment 2025 provide further information on national LULUCF trends.

2.5 Ozone-depleting substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases

ODS are gases that destroy the Earth's protective ozone layer when they reach the stratosphere. Over time they were replaced in many applications — e.g., refrigerants — by HFCs, which are a group of potent F-gases. Both ODS and F-gases contribute to global warming. F-gases accounted for 2% of total GHG emissions in the EU in 2023. In order to mitigate climate change, there is an urgent need to reduce GHG emissions and as such, the use of F-gases must be addressed. This briefing captures the frameworks that regulate ODS and F-gases in the EU and internationally. In addition, it highlights how they have been adjusted over time. It also points to areas that need to be addressed legally in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

2.6 Climate risks to the economy

This briefing covers the direct economic costs of impacts from weather- and climate-related extremes on European society and industry. It also emphasises that the EU and its Member States must take urgent action to prevent large economic losses because of the increase in global warming. The financial aspects of climate change are discussed in briefing 2.8 Climate action financing . How climate change impacts society is discussed in briefing 2.7 Climate risks to society and climate governance is discussed in briefing 2.9 Governance of climate change mitigation and adaptation .

2.7 Climate risks to society

This briefing covers how climate change risks impact European society, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups and the extent to which Europe’s society is prepared to address these. Climate change impacts on economic activities are discussed in briefing 2.6 Climate risks to the economy . Environmental health inequalities are addressed in briefing 3.6 Environmental health inequalities related to air pollution . Information on adaptation governance can be found in briefing 2.9 Governance of climate change mitigation and adaptation . Justice aspects in sustainability transitions are more broadly discussed in briefing 4.11 Justice in sustainability transitions .

2.8 Climate action financing

This briefing covers the scale of investments in climate action to date and considers what investments are still needed (public and private) to achieve the EU climate change targets (with sums converted into constant values based on 2024 (EUR 2024 ) to account for changing values over different years). It is possible that certain investments included here will also contribute to other environmental objectives. The cost of inaction is covered in briefing 2.6 Climate risks to the economy and the EU sustainable finance agenda is covered in briefing 4.12 Financing the transition towards sustainable activities .

2.9 Governance of climate change mitigation and adaptation

Climate governance, for the purposes of this briefing, refers to the framework and mechanisms designed to set targets or objectives, and plan and monitor progress towards them. This briefing provides an overview of European-level climate governance to achieve a climate-neutral and resilient Europe. This is interconnected with international and sub-national governance efforts. It strongly focuses on climate policy frameworks in Europe, and the EEA member and cooperating countries.