Yearly progress in renewable energy rollout must double to reach target

Current policies and measures are not sufficient to meet the new ambitious climate and energy targets, the European Environment Agency said.

Climate targets to 2030 across Europe currently need more than a doubling of yearly progress in renewable energy rollout and reductions of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Those are the conclusions from the European Environment Agency (EEA). It warns in its latest Trends and Projections report that strong growth in renewable energy observed in recent years lost pace in 2021 due to the energy crisis looming across the continent.

Europe’s total share of renewable energy sources remained at 22% of energy consumption in 2021, it said, while emissions rose by around 5%, albeit remaining lower than the years pre-Covid 19.

The EEA said the year ahead is now critical to lock in plans for emissions to drop by 55% by the end of the decade, as laid out by the European Commission's climate target plan.

To reach the 2030 target, emissions would need to decline by 134 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year on average from the 2021 estimated levels, it said. 

"This is more than twice the average yearly reduction that was achieved between 1990 and 2020. All sectors need to significantly step up their efforts in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

"Since 2005, the share of renewable energy in Europe’s gross final energy consumption has grown by an average 0.8 percentage points every year. This number should increase to 2.5 percentage points per year towards 2030 in order to meet the increased 45% renewable energy target proposed."

Current policies and measures are not sufficient to meet the new ambitious climate and energy targets, the EEA said.

Ireland's difficult path to halving emissions by 2030 has been laid bare, with schemes such as national retrofitting, electric vehicles, and public transport overhauls all slow out of the blocks. Environmental experts have consistently warned the path to emissions reduction for Ireland is rapidly narrowing with each passing year.

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