Europe’s environment is facing serious decline despite decades of progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA)’s new State of Europe’s Environment 2025 report. The study, covering 38 countries, concludes that threats to nature and the accelerating impacts of climate change now pose “major risks to Europe’s economic prosperity, security and quality of life.”
A Continent Under Pressure
The EEA warns that Europe’s natural systems continue to degrade under the combined effects of overexploitation, pollution, and biodiversity loss. While the EU remains a global leader in climate action — halving its fossil fuel use and doubling renewables since 2005 — the report finds that biodiversity and ecosystems are still deteriorating, with many policy objectives unlikely to be met by 2030.
One third of Europe’s population and territory now experience water stress. Aquatic ecosystems and groundwater reserves are under severe pressure, threatening food security, drinking water and flood protection. Meanwhile, Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, already suffering from unprecedented wildfires, droughts and extreme weather events.
Urgent Call for Action
EEA Executive Director Leena Ylä-Mononen stressed that the science is clear: “We cannot afford to lower our climate, environment and sustainability ambitions. What we do today will shape our future.”
European Commission leaders echoed that message. Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera said the report was “a stark reminder that Europe must stay the course and even accelerate our climate and environmental ambitions,” warning that delaying targets would “only increase costs, deepen inequalities, and weaken our resilience.”
Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and Circular Economy Jessika Roswall urged governments to “cut pollution, restore nature and protect biodiversity,” adding that protecting nature “is an investment in competitiveness and well-being.”
Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra noted that climate change now “poses a direct threat to our competitiveness” and that staying ambitious “is essential to safeguarding our economy.”
Transforming Europe’s Economy
The report argues that only a transformative shift in production and consumption systems — decarbonising industry, reducing waste and pollution, and restoring ecosystems — can secure Europe’s future. It highlights the potential of nature-based solutions to build resilience, decarbonise transport and agriculture, and strengthen the EU’s circular economy.
Greater investment in green innovation and sustainable finance is also seen as crucial. By linking environmental protection with competitiveness and digitalisation, the EU could become a global leader in green technologies, from renewable energy to low-carbon steel and cement.
A Long-Term Commitment
The State of Europe’s Environment 2025 is the seventh five-yearly assessment by the EEA since 1995, produced in cooperation with the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet). It calls for full implementation of the European Green Deal and its long-term sustainability goals — stressing that environmental protection is not an obstacle to growth but its precondition.
As the report concludes, Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and quality of life all depend on the same foundation: a healthy, restored natural environment.
Read the full EEA report here: Europe’s Environment 2025
