Despite progress in some areas, it is likely that, if everything remains as it is, the European Union will not meet the majority of the environmental targets it set for 2030.
The warning comes from the European Environment Agency, which assessed progress against the objectives laid out under the Eighth Environment Action Programme, shaping the EU’s environmental policy through 2030. The analysis was based on 28 indicators, such as climate mitigation and adaptation, regenerative circular economy, pollution, biodiversity and ecosystems, and production and consumption.
The assessment by the EEA acknowledges that the bloc continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and increase the number of “green” jobs. However, of the 28 indicators, only four are on a good track to be achieved by the end of the decade.
Among the indicators performing well are a 55% reduction in premature deaths due to air pollution by 2030, the expansion of eco-innovation as a driver of the green transition, and the increase in the share of green jobs and a green economy across the economy.
Among the indicators that, if everything continues as it is, are unlikely to be achieved by 2030, there are 17, including a substantial reduction in material consumption and waste generation in the EU, at least a 50% reduction in groundwater pollution by nitrates, designating at least 30% of the EU’s terrestrial and marine areas as protected areas, reversing the decline of common birds, and reducing the fragmentation of forest ecosystems.
Additionally, on the yellow list are reducing energy consumption, increasing to at least 42.5% the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2030, increasing environmental taxes, reducing subsidies for environmentally harmful activities, and reducing water scarcity.
Finally, in red are five indicators that, should current progress remain unchanged, will not be achieved by the end of the decade: the reduction of monetary losses caused by extreme climate events, the doubling of the material circularity rate by 2030, achieving 25% of the EU’s agricultural area under organic farming, a substantial reduction in the environmental impact of European consumption, and the increase in the removal of greenhouse gases generated by the land use, land-use change, and forestry sector.
The EEA states, in its progress assessment report, that for the 2030 objectives to be reached, current legislation must be implemented more quickly and equipped with more resources.
While noting that the EU has “significantly strengthened” its environmental policies in recent years, the EEA stresses that “the full effect of these measures has not yet been felt, and the window of opportunity to meet the 2030 objectives is closing rapidly.”
