Key facts
- Europe's air quality is improving due to sustained efforts to reduce emissions.
- Emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) have fallen by 3-5% annually across the EU since 2015.
- Transport emissions have decreased by 5% between 2019 and 2024, largely due to electric vehicle uptake.
- Renewable energy sources generated over half of the EU's net electricity in Q2 2025 for the first time.
- Extreme weather events like heatwaves and wildfires can negatively impact air quality, increasing ozone and particulate matter levels.
Europe's air quality is showing a steady improvement, according to a new report from the EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). Decades of environmental policies are yielding positive results, with significant reductions in major pollutants like sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) observed across the continent.
Since 2015, emissions of SOx and NOx have decreased by approximately three to five percent annually, primarily driven by efforts in the industry and road transport sectors. The transport sector, while still the only one emitting more than in 1990, has seen a notable reduction in CO2 emissions, falling by 5% between 2019 and 2024. This improvement is largely attributed to the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and a broader transition towards clean energy sources. For the first time, renewable sources accounted for over half of the EU's net electricity generation in the second quarter of 2025.
Despite the overall encouraging outlook, the report acknowledges persistent local air pollution episodes. Ground-level ozone, a harmful pollutant formed by chemical reactions involving pollutants like nitrogen oxides in sunlight, was found to be elevated during Europe's heatwaves last summer. Furthermore, severe wildfire activity, exacerbated by prolonged dry conditions, significantly impacted air quality in regions like Portugal and Spain, leading to widespread exceedances of particulate matter (PM2.5) limits and contributing to increased surface ozone levels.