Climate Action
Europe’s Bold Bet: Leading the Charge Toward a Green Economy
May 23, 2025
Over the past three decades, the concept of a global green economy has gained traction as a way to address both environmental challenges and at the same time build a more sustainable, fair, and inclusive economic system.
The concept of the green economy brings together environmental, social, and economic ideas such as using natural resources efficiently, cutting carbon emissions, and making sure economic growth benefits everyone. This approach focuses on two key goals: promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production and achieving Resource Efficiency for Sustainable Development. The first goal focuses on improving production processes while the second refers to lowering the demand for natural resources and minimizing emissions throughout the economy.
Since the Paris Agreement in 2016, international efforts to combat climate change have accelerated. While East Asia is making considerable strides in this regard, Europe — known for its strong commitment to sustainability and emission reductions — stands out as a regional leader.
The European Green Deal: A Sustainable Step Toward 2050
In 2019, the European Union (EU) initiated the European Green Deal to transform the EU into a resource-efficient economy by ensuring zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and decoupling resource use. And guess what – it is working.
When local governments invest in renewable energy, everybody wins.
Saharnaz Mirzazad, Executive Director of ICLEI USA
According to Eurostat, the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU are manufacturing (21.6%), electricity and gas supply (16.3%), and transportation and storage (16.1%). From 2019 to 2023, greenhouse gas emissions fell from 3.4 billion tonnes to 2.9 billion tonnes, which is a staggering 14.71% decrease.
Among the countries helping to drive this huge shift, Denmark, Austria, and Sweden stand out for their contributions.
Denmark’s Climate Revolution: Cities, Buildings, and Tourism
Denmark ranked as the number one country in the Green Transition Index 2024, based on seven categories: the Overall Economy, Nature, Manufacturing, Utilities, Waste, Buildings, and Transport. Meanwhile, Copenhagen has developed the CPH Climate Plan that addresses four key areas: energy consumption, energy production, mobility, and city administration initiatives. The city has been practicing eco-friendly projects to foster new industries in its green economy market.
Danish companies are putting a strong emphasis on green technologies. VELUX, for example, is a leading company in energy-efficient building solutions. Its “Living Places” project emits just one-third of the Danish government’s 2023 building standard, which caps emissions at 12 kg of CO2 equivalent per square meter per year.
Another city-sized project is eco-tourism, “CopenPay”. This encourages tourists to think and act more sustainably when they travel to the city. The key is simplicity. This allows users easy participation. Tourists can show a train ticket, arrive on a bicycle, or present other simple proof of green actions to redeem their rewards.
In Denmark, about 23.6% of workers are employed in jobs with a significant relation to green tasks that contribute to environmental objects. Between 2011 and 2021, all regions in Denmark recorded an increase in the share of green-task jobs in their employed labor force.
Austria: Proving That Growth and Emission Cuts Can Coexist
Can we decouple emissions from growth? Austria shows that the answer is yes. In 2022, Austria’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions dropped by 6.4% while GDP growth reached 4.8%. Looking at the longer trend, from 2000 to 2022, real GDP grew by 42%, while emissions fell by 4%. Austria achieved these mostly from decarbonization in energy use while maintaining the intensity. Today, 85.3% of the electricity supply is from renewable sources and 76% is from hydropower.
Austria is targeting to meet 100% of its annual electricity demand by renewable generation by 2030. To achieve this, the country must generate an additional 27 terawatt hours (TWh) from renewables. Solar and wind power will take an extra 11 TWh and 10 TWh respectively, and another 5 TWh and 1 TWh will be from hydropower and biomass.
In terms of economy, there are more than 550 companies in greening industries, with the Austrian GreenTech sector alone generating over EUR 15 billion in sales and 50,000 in employment as of 2019.
Sweden’s Step to a Fossil-Free Future
Sweden has also demonstrated that economic growth and reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can go hand in hand. In 2022, Sweden’s real GDP grew by 2.9%, while fossil CO₂ emissions decreased by approximately 0.48%, totaling 37.85 million metric tons. This success in decoupling economic growth from emissions has been driven by a strong emphasis on renewable energy sources.
As of 2022, about 68% of Sweden’s electricity generation came from renewable sources, with hydropower contributing 40%, wind power 19%, solar 1%, and bioenergy 8%. The Swedish government has set a target to achieve 100% fossil-free electricity production by 2040.
The number of jobs in the green economy has risen quickly. Employment in Sweden’s energy-intensive sectors is stable overall, the green economy is further expanding and the number of green jobs is growing. Northern Sweden, in particular, is becoming a significant green tech cluster. Over the next few years, it is estimated that more than EUR 970,000 million will be invested in new green technology.
Change can be daunting, but we must move away from our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace a sustainable future.
Kathleen Rogers, President, EARTHDAY.ORG
A Renewable Future Within Reach
One common focus connects these European pioneers: all three are actively working toward achieving fossil-free energy generation within the next 10 to 20 years. It is amazing to imagine we could soon witness countries running on 100% renewable energy.
If you’re passionate about supporting this global movement, join us by signing the Our Power, Our Planet Renewable Energy Petition! This initiative calls for stronger action on clean energy, and your signature will help strengthen our collective voice when we present it to the United Nations at COP30 in November 2025. Every signature counts.
You can take it even further – let’s advocate for change. Send a letter to stop rollbacks and promote renewable energy in our countries by telling Lawmakers and State Lawmakers.
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