Green, clean and keen to converge? A convergence analysis of environmental quality of life in the EU

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Authors

Berta Mizsei

Övünc Uysal

Abstract

This report explores the dynamics of the environmental performance of the EU Member States and the extent to which the disparities in their performance have narrowed since the early 2000s. The report is a product of cooperation between Eurofound and the European Environment Agency, with the technical expertise in convergence of the former meeting the expertise in European environmental issues of the latter. It focuses on three levels of analysis: headline indicators, residential-level indicators and household-level indicators. In order to explore the multifaceted issue of environmental quality of life in the EU, the report investigates environmental indicators through a convergence analysis. The results suggest that the EU is on the right track to becoming carbon neutral, although the speed of the greening process varies among the Member States. A fast and steady improvement in performance can be seen for most of the indicators. One noteworthy finding is that the economic downturns of the past two decades negatively affected the household-level indicators examined, which focused on energy poverty.

Green, clean and keen to converge? A convergence analysis of environmental quality of life in the EU

English (3.25 MB - PDF)

Key findings

Disparities between the EU Member States have lessened and performance has improved in many environmental indicators over the past two decades. Interventions should focus on three areas where divergence has been detected: housing quality, energy poverty and public transport.

The financial crisis of 2008–2013 had a significant negative impact on the household-level indicators that measure energy poverty and housing quality. The subsequent recovery shows that some economies were sufficiently resilient.

There are still great inequalities between people with different income levels: low-income populations are drastically worse off in the quality of their neighbourhood and housing. However, improved performance in residential-level indicators – measuring pollution, recycling and use of public transport, for instance – shows that local neighbourhoods are becoming more liveable.

Residential- and household-level environmental goals may need more stringent or timely policy measures than those currently in place. Both high-level solutions and everyday fixes are needed, and local and national authorities pursuing greening could follow established practices suggested by Member States and the EU.

Diversifying the EU’s energy and material use through renewable energy and circular economy measures would speed up the green transition, cushion the effects of future energy and material crises, and protect low-income citizens in particular.

The report contains the following lists of tables and figures.

List of tables

Table 1: Macro-level indicators of environmental performance
Table 2: Meso-level indicators of environmental performance
Table 3: Micro-level indicators of environmental performance
Table 4: Summary of convergence analysis of macro-level indicators
Table 5: Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption in 2005 and targets for and effective rates in 2020, EU Member States
Table 6: Summary of convergence analysis of meso-level indicators
Table 7: Summary of convergence analysis of meso-level indicators
Table 8: Correlation matrix of environmental and socioeconomic variables, EU27

List of figures

Figure 1: Conceptualisation of European environmental quality of life
Figure 2: Timeline of the EU environmental acquis
Figure 3: Sigma-convergence in net greenhouse gas emissions, EU27, 1990–2019
Figure 4: Net greenhouse gas emissions, EU Member States, 1990 and 2020
Figure 5: Sigma-convergence in years of life lost due to PM2.5 exposure, EU27, 2005–2019
Figure 6: Comparison of years of life lost due to PM2.5 exposure, EU Member States, 2005 and 2019
Figure 7: Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, EU27, 2004–2020 (%)
Figure 8: Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption, EU Member States, 2008 and 2020 (%)
Figure 9: Delta-convergence in national targets for renewable energy, EU27, 2004–2020
Figure 10: Circular material use rate, EU27, 2010–2021 (%)
Figure 11: Sigma-convergence in circular material use rate, EU27, 2010–2021 (%)
Figure 12: Share of population reporting pollution, grime or other environmental problems, for total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2008–2020 (%)
Figure 13: Share of population reporting pollution, grime or other environmental problems, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU Member States, 2020 (%)
Figure 14: Share of population reporting pollution, grime or other environmental problems, by degree of urbanisation, EU Member States, 2020 (%)
Figure 15: Recycling rate of municipal waste, EU27, 2008–2021 (%)
Figure 16: Sigma-convergence in the recycling rate of municipal waste, EU27, 2008–2021
Figure 17: Sigma-convergence in the share of buses and trains in inland passenger transport, 2008–2020, EU27
Figure 18: Share of buses and trains in inland passenger transport, EU27, 2000–2020 (%)
Figure 19: Changes in the share of buses and trains in inland passenger transport during the COVID-19 pandemic, EU Member States, 2019 and 2020 (%)
Figure 20: Sigma-convergence in the share of the population experiencing noise pollution, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2008–2020
Figure 21: Share of households experiencing noise pollution, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2008–2020 (%)
Figure 22: Share of households experiencing noise pollution, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU Member States, 2020 (%)
Figure 23: Sigma-convergence in population living in dwellings with damp, leaks or rot, EU27, 2009–2020 (%)
Figure 24: Share of the population living in dwellings with damp, leaks or rot, EU Member States, 2009 and 2020 (%)
Figure 25: Share of the population living in dwellings with damp, leaks or rot, EU Member States, 2019 and 2020 (%)
Figure 26: Sigma-convergence in the share of the population living in dwellings with damp, leaks or rot, EU27 without Cyprus, 2009–2020
Figure 27: Sigma-convergence in share of households in arrears on utility bills, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2008–2021 (%)
Figure 28: Share of households reporting arrears on utility bills, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2008–2021 (%)
Figure 29: Share of population in arrears on utility bills, EU Member States, 2008, 2019 and 2021 (%)
Figure 30: Sigma-convergence in the share of the population unable to keep home adequately warm, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2005–2021
Figure 31: Share of the population unable to keep home adequately warm, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU27, 2008–2021 (%)
Figure 32: Inequalities in the population unable to keep home adequately warm in 2021, by total population and population at risk of poverty, EU Member States (%)
Figure 33: Correlation between years of life lost due to air pollution and mean and median income, EU27, 2005–2019
Figure 34: Correlation between the share of the population experiencing noise pollution and mean and median income, EU27, 2003–2020
Figure 35: Correlation between the share of the population experiencing noise pollution and educational attainment, EU27, 2003–2020
Figure 36: Correlation between circular material use rate and income and GDP, EU27, 2008–2019
Figure 37: Correlation between municipal recycling rate and income and GDP, EU27, 2004–2020
Figure 38: Correlation between the share of the population living in dwellings with no indoor toilet or shower and mean and median income and GDP per capita, 2009–2020, EU27
Figure 39: Correlation between the share of the population living in dwellings with damp, leaks or rot and educational attainment and employment rate, EU27, 2009–2020
Figure 40: Correlation between the share of population in arrears on utility bills and the AROPE or NEET share of the population, EU27, 2015–2021
Figure 41: Correlation between the share of the population unable to heat their home adequately and mean and median income and GDP per capita, EU27, 2005–2021

Number of pages: 80

Reference nº: EF23022

ISBN: 978-92-897-2345-9

Catalogue nº: TJ-04-23-785-EN-N

DOI: 10.2806/576287

Permalink: /eurofound.link/ef23022

Cite this publication
Eurofound and EEA (2023), Green, clean and keen to converge? A convergence analysis of environmental quality of life in the EU, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

Key findings

List of tables

List of figures

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