This “is the largest annual decline in decades, with the exception of 2020, when Covid-19 led to a reduction in emissions of 9.8%,” underlines Brussels in a press release. “Net greenhouse gas emissions are now 37% below 1990 levels, while GDP has increased by 68% over the same period”, a sign of the “continued decoupling of emissions and economic growth “, claims the European executive. “The EU remains on track to meet its commitment to reduce its emissions by at least 55% by 2030,” the Commission further assures. Emissions from electricity production and heating have decreased by 24% compared to 2022, thanks to the development of wind turbines and solar panels, and the “transition away from coal”. In 2023, renewables represented 44.7% of electricity production in the European Union (+12.4%) compared to 32.5% of electricity produced by fossil fuels (-19.7%) and 22 .8% (+1.2%) by nuclear power plants. The electricity mix, however, varies greatly depending on the European country. Emissions from the aviation sector also increased by 9.5% in Europe, continuing their post-Covid trend.
Brussels aims to achieve climate neutrality in 2050. One of the first tasks of Ursula von der Leyen's new team, which is due to take office at the beginning of December, will be to negotiate the 2040 objective, for which the Commission recommends a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990. But the right, the main force in the European Parliament, views this figure with caution. The 90% reduction in emissions in 2040 is “extremely ambitious”. “We need to discuss with stakeholders to see if it is feasible,” EPP MEP Peter Liese has already warned. The surge of the far right in the last European elections also makes NGOs fear an unraveling of the EU's environmental ambitions.
