State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality

The EU is making progress in solar energy and cleantech manufacturing, but the overall transition to climate neutrality by 2050 is slowed by a EUR 344 billion investment gap, continued fossil fuel dependence, and policy misalignments in agriculture and building renovations.

• The EU is seeing growth in clean technology manufacturing and renewable energy, with battery production expected to surpass the 2030 target of 550 GWh annually and solar power becoming the largest electricity source by mid-2025 after 65 GW of new capacity was installed in 2024.
• A climate investment gap of EUR 344 billion in 2023 is hindering the deployment of clean technology and industrial decarbonisation, exacerbated by slow permitting and subsidies and taxation that continue to favour fossil fuels.
• The EU remains vulnerable to climate and geopolitical shocks, with climate-related economic losses totaling EUR 160 billion between 2021 and 2023 and fossil fuel imports in 2024 reaching nearly EUR 400 billion, or 2% of GDP.
• Social and policy misalignments persist, including energy poverty affecting 1 in 10 EU citizens and a Common Agricultural Policy that supports emissions-intensive farming despite per capita beef consumption falling below 10 kilograms in 2023.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2025). State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality. https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecnos-2025-flagship-report-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality. 2025. https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecnos-2025-flagship-report-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality |date=3 September 2025 |url=https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecnos-2025-flagship-report-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2025state, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{State of EU Progress to Climate Neutrality}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://newclimate.org/resources/publications/ecnos-2025-flagship-report-state-of-eu-progress-to-climate-neutrality}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }