Europe faces turbulent times, where multiple economic, social, geopolitical and environmental crises converge, posing systemic risks to our way of life. The climate crisis is accelerating – Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average. In this difficult situation, the main report European Environment Agency (EEA) "European Environment 2025" as a comprehensive assessment of the state of Europe's environment, climate and sustainability. This seventh edition, published by the EEA, aims to provide insights for strengthening resilience, prosperity and sustainability.

The report highlights that ensuring Europe's security, preparedness and competitiveness is inextricably linked to environmental sustainability. The overall assessment shows that important progress is being made in the area of climate change mitigation, while progress is mixed on reducing pollution and transitioning to a circular economy. The greatest challenges remain in reducing biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and adapting to accelerating climate change..

Critical state of biodiversity and pollution

Biodiversity in Europe continues to decline across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Key pressures are driven by unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, particularly in the food system. More than 80% of protected habitats are in poor or unsatisfactory condition, with 60-70 % of land degraded. The EU biodiversity target to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2020 has not been achieved.

Despite significant progress in the fight against pollution (e.g. 45 percent reduction in premature deaths caused by fine particles from 2005 to 2022), pollution continues to significantly reduce the quality of life in Europe. Millions of years of healthy life are lost every year due to pollution, and At least 10 % premature deaths in Europe are caused by exposure to polluted air, water, soil, noise and harmful chemicalsAir pollution is responsible for at least 239,000 premature deaths per year.

Climate progress and ongoing risks

There has been progress in climate change mitigation. Since 1990, the EU's net total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have fallen by more than 37 %. Projected reductions indicate that the EU is on track to meet its 2030 target of reducing net GHG emissions by at least 55 % compared to 1990 levels. The energy system has contributed in particular to this progress: renewable energy sources accounted for over 24% of EU final energy consumption in 2023However, fossil fuels still dominate, accounting for almost 70 % of the EU's gross available energy in 2023.

Climate change also brings huge economic costs. Extreme weather and climate-related events have led to economic losses in the EU-27 between 1980 and 2023 estimated at approximately EUR 738 billionIn addition, failure or weak enforcement of existing EU environmental legislation costs the EU approximately EUR 180 billion.

The path to transformation

To ensure sustainable prosperity and quality of life, it is necessary profound transformation of key production and consumption systemsThe report identifies promising factors such as innovation, green employment and sustainable finance that enable a shift towards sustainability. The transformation requires the application of different instruments of change: political, socio-technological and economic. The full and effective implementation of existing legislation, including the regulations adopted under the European Green Deal (EGD), is crucial to achieving the goals. JRi