Europe’s environment is still “not good” despite years of policy promises, according to a damning new assessment by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The Europe’s Environment 2025 report warns that nature continues to degrade at alarming speed, climate change is accelerating, and unsustainable production and consumption patterns remain entrenched.
While the EU has made progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, boosting renewables and improving recycling rates, the EEA says these advances are being undermined by persistent wastefulness, biodiversity loss, and resource overexploitation.
Recycling rates and resource efficiency have improved across Europe, but the report makes clear that these successes are nowhere near enough to offset the sheer scale of environmental decline. Waste prevention – the top of the waste hierarchy – is lagging behind, with consumption levels continuing to rise.
The state of our environment is a clear call to action to continue to cut pollution, restore nature and protect biodiversity. We need to rethink the link between the environment and the economy.
The EEA calls for “transformative change” to production and consumption systems, not just incremental improvements. Without faster moves towards circularity and sustainable resource use, Europe risks locking itself into more waste, higher emissions, and growing dependency on critical raw material imports.
EU leaders hailed the progress made since 2005, with air quality and recycling singled out as areas of improvement. But the report is blunt: most environmental objectives, including biodiversity targets, are unlikely to be met by 2030.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, said: “The state of our environment is a clear call to action to continue to cut pollution, restore nature and protect biodiversity. We need to rethink the link between the environment and the economy.”
Yet critics point out that Europe’s waste systems remain patchy, heavily dependent on energy recovery, and too often focused on end-of-pipe fixes rather than true circularity.
The report underlines that Europe’s consumption and waste habits are driving both climate and nature crises. Food systems, in particular, are singled out as unsustainable, with high levels of waste contributing to biodiversity loss, water stress, and emissions.
The EEA says building a resilient Europe depends on reducing waste at source, scaling up reuse systems, and embedding circular design across industries. But with biodiversity collapsing, water shortages worsening, and climate disasters intensifying, the window for action is closing fast.
Leena Ylä-Mononen, EEA Executive Director, stressed: “We cannot afford to lower our sustainability ambitions. What we do today will shape our future.”