Climate

Climate change affects us all and is accelerating. Its impacts will become even more severe if the increase in global temperature is not kept below 1.5°C. The EU and its Member States are taking important steps to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities — mainly from burning fossil fuels, industrial production and agricultural activities are causing our climate to change at a rapid pace. Climate change is already impacting Europeans’ daily lives and will continue for the foreseeable future.

Already, flooding, droughts, heatwaves and other climate-related hazards are becoming more intense and frequent in Europe and abroad. These hazards have significant health and economic costs. Without increased ambition and rapid action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the impacts of climate change will continue and intensify.

Dealing with climate change requires two interlinked actions working together:

Climate change mitigation: reducing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and enhancing their sinks to slow down climate change.
Climate change adaptation: actions to adapt to the impacts of climate change, like preventing flooding, preparing for heatwaves and reducing other climate risks.

With the European Climate Law, the EU made climate neutrality by 2050 a legally binding goal, set an interim target of a net 55% emission reduction by 2030 and is working on setting the 2040 target. The overarching framework for these is the European Green Deal, a roadmap for the EU to achieve sustainability by 2050.

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EU's climate targets at a glance

Source: EEA Signals 2022 — State of play

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Report, “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Climate and nature: two sides of the same coin

The stakes have never been higher. Our planet is warming and losing species at an alarming rate. Two global conferences at the end of 2022 brought people from across the world around a common topic — climate and biodiversity.

The challenges in both areas are symptoms of the same problem: our unsustainable production and consumption. Despite the complexity of the negotiations, these conferences are crucial for global awareness, consensus and urgent action.

Read editorial by EEA Executive Director

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Climate change impacts, risks and adaptation

Climate change mitigation: reducing emissions

Extreme weather: floods, droughts and heatwaves

Our climate is changing. Find out what Europe is doing to adapt.

Go to Climate-ADAPT portal

Igor Popovic, Climate Change PIX/EEA

What causes climate change?

By burning fossil fuels, producing goods, cutting down forests, and farming livestock, Earth’s average temperatures are heating up. These activities release massive amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, which increases the greenhouse effect and causes global warming. There are four main types of greenhouse gases created by human activity:

Carbon dioxide, stemming mainly from transport, coal, oil, deforestation and natural gas burned to generate heat and electricity;
Methane primarily from livestock waste management and fugitives from coal, oil and gas operations;
Nitrous oxide from fertiliser use;
Fluorinated gases from manufacturing and industry.

Explore the EU's emissions data

Climate

EU's climate targets at a glance

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.

Climate and nature: two sides of the same coin

Dive deeper

Our climate is changing. Find out what Europe is doing to adapt.

What causes climate change?

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