Just a few days ago Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published data that revealed that the EU managed to beat its renewable energy target for 2020. During this year renewables accounted for 22% of the total energy consumption of the organisation while the target was 20%.
The 22% covers a wide range of renewable energy sources, including ‘wind power, solar power (thermal, photovoltaic and concentrated), hydro power, tidal power, geothermal energy, ambient heat captured by heat pumps, biofuels and the renewable part of waste,’ Eurostat reported.
To put things into perspective, in 2004 renewables covered less than 10% of energy consumption in the EU. The fact that the share of renewable energy more than doubled since then shows how much progress EU member states have made in terms of being more sustainable.
Surpassing the renewable energy target is in line with the EU’s ambition to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Constantly improving energy efficiency and focusing on renewables is essential to meeting this very ambitious goal.
Greenest countries
According to Eurostat, 26 countries met or even surpassed their targets for 2020, which shows that focusing on sustainability is a top priority for the EU as a whole.
Sweden was the country with the highest share of clean energy. In 2020, the country sourced 60% of the energy from renewable sources. As Nimble Fins reported, ‘Sweden ranked in the top 3 countries for greenhouse gases emissions, air quality, energy and land.’
The second place belonged to Finland with 44% and the last spot on the podium was taken by Latvia with 42%.
These countries contribute the most to the EU’s goal of cutting down CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030. They also drive ECO-innovations and create green jobs that can boost their economies.
Environmental Performance Index
In addition to Eurostat’s report, a great indication of how green countries around the world, including EU member states, are is the 2020 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).
The official website of the EPI explains that ‘The EPI provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world. Using 32 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on environmental health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets. The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.
The EPI looks at data regarding issues such as the quality of water and air, waste management, CO2 emissions.
According to the 2020 EPI, European countries are amongst the greenest in the world. ‘Top of the eco-chart is Denmark, followed by Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany,’ said Forbes.
Challenges ahead
While the progress made by the EU in the field of sustainability and renewable energy is significant, there still is room for improvement. The biggest obstacle to the EU meeting its climate and renewable energy goals is the disparity between the most and the least sustainable countries.
While some countries, especially Scandinavian ones, source most of their energy from renewables and focus a lot on reducing their impact on the environment, others do not do the same. There is still a significant proportion of poorer EU member states that rely primarily on fossil fuels. That is the case with, for example, Poland or Hungary. For governments of these countries, developing renewable technologies and moving away from coal is not a priority. In fact, they have been ignoring EU advice regarding green policies and have not been meeting their national emission targets.
Then, there is also the problem of climate change already affecting the lives of people in Europe and in other parts of the world. Extreme weather events, high temperatures, rising sea levels, all these things are happening at a very high pace. For the EU to reverse the tremendous impacts of climate change, all countries need to work harder. If every single EU member state does not play their part in making the organisation greener, the EU will not achieve its climate goals.