Climate change mitigation: reducing emissions

EU Member States have put in place over 3,700 policies and measures to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.  These include targets for greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors of the economy, promoting the use of renewable energy and low carbon fuels, energy efficiency improvements in buildings, and many more.

EU greenhouse has emissions has fallen by 39% since 1990. Meanwhile, gross domestic product (GDP) and population grew by more than 70% and 8% respectively in the same period.  EU countries project that climate change mitigation measures already in place would lead to a reduction of 48% in 2030 for total EU net greenhouse gas emissions under the European Climate Law, while further measures that are currently being planned would boost reductions to 54% below 1990 level. 

Achievements in emission reductions vary across sectors too. Most sectors reduced greenhouse gas emissions over the past three decades, with the highest reductions in the energy supply sector. Still, some sectors under the Effort Sharing Regulation struggle to reduce emissions:

• In the transport sector, preliminary data for 2025 estimate a 0.3% increase in GHG emissions compared to 2024. This increase comes despite a market share increase in the registration of electric cars across the EU from 21% in 2024 to 27% in 2025.
• In the building sector, approximated GHG emission numbers for 2025 indicate a 0.8% increase in emissions compared to the previous year. This has likely been driven by higher heating degree days — an indicator of energy demand for heating buildings —by around 4% across the EU compared with 2024.

In 2025, renewables accounted for 26.3% of final energy consumed in the European Union, one percentage point more than in 2024.

Since 2005, the EU has managed to reduce its energy consumption: primary energy use (PEC) has fallen by 20%, while final energy consumption (FEC) by 11%, according to early estimates for 2025. However, both PEC and FEC slightly increased in 2025 compared to 2024.

The EU aims to become climate neutral by 2050. This means reducing GHG emissions as much as possible, while removing enough greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to balance residual GHG emissions. The European Climate Law makes this goal legally binding and sets targets to reduce GHG emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and 90% by 2040, compared with 1990 levels.

To reach these targets, the EU has introduced a range of measures through its Fit for 55 proposal, including:

• reducing emissions from transport, buildings, agriculture and other sectors;
• increasing the use of renewable energy use;
• improving energy efficiency;
• Protecting and strengthening carbon removals from forests and land.

Achieving climate neutrality will require investments in cleaner technology and infrastructure, particularly in energy, transport and industry. This would help Europe move away from fossil fuels.