A European Green Deal: Council info and EU Publications

The goals of the European Green Deal are vast; it will take the combined effort of all the EU institutions and member states to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

The timeline describes important dates for both the Council of the European Union and the European Council throughout the first years of the Green Deal rollout.

Press releases and statements on matters relating to the European Green Deal.

Includes information on the EU’s response to climate change: goals and legislation.

The climate transition is a key priority for the European Council and the Council of the EU. The launch of the European Green Deal in December 2019 brought new impetus to climate policy and action at EU level. This page contains an overview of the most recent climate-related EU legislation and policy initiatives.

In 2019, EU leaders endorsed the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050. This followed the commitments made by the EU and its member states on signing the Paris Agreement in 2015. What does climate neutrality mean and how will the EU achieve this goal while promoting the wellbeing of its citizens? Here are five facts you need to know about the EU’s climate ambitions.

As part of the European Green Deal, with the European Climate Law, the EU has set itself a binding target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. As an intermediate step towards climate neutrality, the EU has raised its 2030 climate ambition, committing to cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030. This page explains the Fit for 55 package in detail.

The Commission presented the 'farm to fork' strategy in May 2020, as one of the key actions under the European Green Deal. Contributing to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the strategy intends to shift the current EU food system towards a sustainable model. This page discusses the package in detail.

Shifting to a greener way of life is crucial to address the climate emergency and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, especially those from Russia. The EU and its 27 countries are working on new common rules within the so-called ‘Fit for 55 package’ to reduce the EU’s carbon footprint. The objective is to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. How will these new rules shape the way we live, work and travel? Read on for some examples of what life in the EU will look like in 2030.

Climate change is no longer simply a threat to the future. As a result of human activity, the average temperature on earth has been steadily rising since industrialisation. Global warming is happening now.

The Council adopted a regulation and a directive establishing common internal market rules for renewable and natural gases and hydrogen and reforming the existing EU gas legislation. The new rules will help make the shift to renewable and low-carbon gases, in particular hydrogen, in the energy system, with a view to achieving the EU’s decarbonisation targets.

Climate change ranks as a top concern for European citizens. Yet, emerging tensions have the potential to disrupt the green transition unless social challenges are addressed carefully. This paper suggests key principles for ensuring the success of the green transition.

Food is one of the most basic human needs. Producing it is a very prominent driver of global environmental change. The current food crisis is causing 3 billion people to have insufficient access to nutritious food, while acute hunger threatens over 200 million lives. Food systems, comprising the entire range of actors and their activities, have significant impacts on the economy, jobs, environment, climate, food safety, and the health and well-being of citizens.

Under the European Climate Law, the EU committed to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The 'Fit for 55' package of legislation makes all sectors of the EU's economy fit to meet this target. It sets the EU on a path to reach its climate targets in a fair, cost-effective and competitive way.

The ‘Green Deal Going Local’ working group has three specific objectives: To make the voice of cities and regions heard on the numerous policy initiatives under the European Green Deal ; To place cities and regions at the heart of EU institutions` policies promoting carbon neutrality ; To highlight achievements and best practices of local and regional authorities in implementing local green transition, and facilitate replication across the EU.

In this paper, we identify key options for enhancing the EU’s evolving climate governance framework to this end. Building on the latest scientific knowledge of relevant best practice in Europe and elsewhere, as for example reflected and acknowledged in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC, 2022b), we review the EU’s existing climate governance framework and identify EU-level policy options for further enhancing it across the Union and its member states, while paying particular attention to key interactions, synergies and tensions between individual governance elements.

This report on urban food system transformation reflects on the future of sustainable food systems in line with the priorities of the Food 2030 initiative. It seeks to share good practices and to serve as inspiration for other urban areas wishing to transform their food systems. The report is based on a survey of 22 European urban food system transformation projects, in-depth interviews, and a participatory workshop with representatives of some 25 European projects and networks.

The European Union (EU) aims to be climate-neutral by 2050, becoming an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This objective is at the heart of the European Green Deal and in line with the EU's commitment to global climate action under the Paris Agreement. Through the Taxonomy Regulation Complementary Delegated Act, the Commission has concluded that nuclear energy, subject to strict safety and environmental conditions, can play a role in the transition towards climate neutrality in line with the Green Deal. This is also a practice of some EU Member States. It encourages the development and improvement of safety standards for nuclear technologies, including advanced waste-minimising technologies and new nuclear energy generation projects

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The portfolio aims to: • quantify progress towards the European Green Deal goals and targets across all EGD domains addressing impacts and benefits within and beyond European Union borders; • identify how we can best address synergies, trade-offs, and gaps in policies via integrated approaches and life cycle assessment of value chains; • identify what needs to be done to deliver a truly green and regenerative economy, that gives back to the planet more than it takes, remaining within planetary boundaries, in a socially inclusive, fair and just manner.

The original full study presents information on the role of e-commerce in implementing the European Green Deal. In particular, the report analyses how companies can uphold high consumer protection standards with online sales in the internal market using digitalisation; explore the potential of new sustainability standards in the context of the upcoming revision of the packaging directive; investigate the environmental footprint of e-commerce including how it is calculated, and how the footprint can be reduced assess the role e-commerce plays, or could play, in implementing the EU Green Deal's goals; and analyse the link between e-commerce and the single market's circular economy.

The Commission is proposing the first EU-wide voluntary framework to reliably certify high-quality carbon removals. This is a necessary instrument to reach the EU’s climate, environmental and zero-pollution goals. Carbon removals can and must bring clear benefits for the climate, as well as preserving or strengthening other environmental objectives.

The European Commission publishes frequent factsheets on the developing EU Green Deal. This comprehensive report lays out the stages of the initiative's launch, in addition to each step's projected goals.

By 2030, the European Union should have not just the Green Deal, a green transition and zero greenhouse gas emissions, but also zero energy poverty. Tackling energy poverty at EU level can at the same time help to achieve climate neutrality goals, reduce inequalities in the European Union and in parallel support the recovery from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Green Deal aims to make Europe climate neutral by 2050. To help meet this target, the EU has agreed to reduce its net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

This report presents a comparison of 8 scenarios achieving more than 50% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990, and 16 scenarios aiming at climate neutrality by 2050, similar with the ambitions of the “European Green Deal”.

The European Commission's dedicated European Green Deal website displays a timeline of climate action taken thus far, in addition to summaries of the deal's sections and resources for citizen involvement.

The European Climate Pact is an EU-wide initiative inviting people, communities and organisations to participate in climate action and build a greener Europe.

The EU’s new circular action plan paves the way for a cleaner and more competitive Europe. The EU’s transition to a circular economy will reduce pressure on natural resources and will create sustainable growth and jobs. It is also a prerequisite to achieve the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality target and to halt biodiversity loss.

To pursue the dual ambition of energy gains and economic growth, in 2020 the Commission published a new strategy to boost renovation called "A Renovation Wave for Europe – Greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives".

To achieve the goals set by the European Green Deal, the Commission has pledged to mobilise at least €1 trillion in sustainable investments over the next decade. 30% of the EU’s multiannual budget (2021-2028) and the EU’s unique NextGenerationEU (NGEU) instrument to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, has been allocated for green investments.

The EU formulates and implements climate policies and strategies, taking a leading role in international negotiations on climate. It is committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and implementing the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). In this regard, EU countries have agreed to meet various targets in the years to come. The EU seeks to ensure that climate concerns are taken on board in other policy areas (e.g. transport and energy) and also promotes low-carbon technologies and adaptation measures

The European Climate Law writes into law the goal set out in the European Green Deal for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050. The law also sets the intermediate target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Includes factsheets explaining the European Green Deal, how it benefits EU citizens, the EU's role as a global leader and track record on climate action. It also includes thematic factsheets on areas such as investing in a climate-neutral and circular economy, EU funded projects to green the economy, the circular Economy action plan, offshore renewable energy, a new European Bauhaus, chemicals strategy for sustainability, the Just Transition Mechanism: making sure no one is left behind, and climate law.
The factsheets are available in 23 EU languages.