Greenhouse gas emissions in the EU decreased in 2025, but the Commission warns that more needs to be done

Brussels – Reducing greenhouse gas emissions? The European Union is making progress, while Italy has not done its homework properly and has been held back. The European Commission published today (9 November) the Progress report on EU climate action for 2026 and the Carbon Market Report. The two reports highlight that greenhouse gas emissions in the EU continue to fall, but call for the decarbonisation process to be accelerated. 

The data from the Climate Progress Report state that in 2025, the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions fell by 1.6 per cent compared with 2024. Emissions covered by the ETS fell by around 2 per cent in 2025, while emissions in the sectors covered by the
Effort Sharing Regulation

(ESR) – the European Union legislation setting binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for each Member State for the period 2021–2030 – remained broadly stable. Overall, emissions fell by 39 per cent compared with 1990 levels, while the EU economy grew by 74 per cent. The Carbon Market Report also notes that revenue from the ETS system rose by €43.2 billion in 2025, an increase of 11 per cent compared with 2024. 

In a press release, Berlyamont Palace noted that “while the EU remains fully committed to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030, the slower pace of emissions reductions in 2025 will require an acceleration of efforts across the economy in the second half of the decade.” According to projections, emissions covered by the ESR Regulation are currently expected to fall by around 38.5 per cent by 2030, a figure close to the 40 per cent target set by the regulation. However, there are nine EU countries – Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Sweden, and Italy – which have not made sufficient progress towards meeting the targets set out in the regulation. The Commission will ask each of these countries to submit a corrective action plan to accelerate the implementation and development of measures and investments aimed at reducing emissions. During today’s daily press briefing, the Commission’s spokesperson responsible for the Environment portfolio, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, stated that the European Commissioner for the Environment, Wopke Hoekstra, will “send them a letter.” They will then “have three months to inform us of the corrective measures taken, and we will provide them with feedback within the following four months,” she added. 

According to the report “Trends and projections“, also published today by the European Environment Agency, “turning plans into real-world emissions reductions will require a full and timely implementation of planned policies and measures.” The Agency clarifies that “to reach the target, emissions reductions in Effort Sharing Regulation sectors over the next five years will need to match those achieved over the previous two decades combined.”
Progress remains “particularly challenging in end-use sectors such as transport, buildings and agriculture, where behavioural change and household investment decisions play a key role in reducing emissions. ” 

In addition to emissions, the production of clean technologies within the EU has also “expanded significantly.” However, according to the report, “there are still further economic opportunities to be seized for European industry.” The starting point, however, appears positive: in 2025, registrations of battery-electric cars stood at 1.9 million, equivalent to around one in six new car registrations. The EU’s wind and solar power capacity rose to 611 gigawatts, accounting for around 49 per cent of total electricity generated. The installation of heat pumps has also accelerated, with an estimated additional capacity of 41 gigawatts installed in 2025, compared with the 26 gigawatts recorded in 2024. 

The MEP from The Left – elected as part of the Five Star Movement – Valentina Palmisano, commented on Italy’s result, stating that “the Meloni government” has been “rejected by the EU in the fight against climate change.” According to the MEP, “the request to present corrective measures to meet the emissions reduction targets by 2030 confirms the failure of an environmental policy characterised by announcements, U-turns and decisions that look to the past rather than the future.” While “the climate crisis is accelerating and taking its toll every day,” the government “continues to chase emergencies without tackling their causes,” she added. In emphasising that “Italy is one of the European countries most exposed to the risks of climate change – hydrogeological instability, the fragility of the landscape, coastal erosion, wildfires, and heatwaves are scenarios that affect our regions every year” – Palmisano stressed that “any delay in the ecological transition means higher costs, greater damage, increased insecurity, and new inequalities.”