Europe’s industrial footprint: Unveiling environmental impacts

Highlights

• Develops a unified Environmental Emission Index for large industrial installations.
• Integrates multiple air pollutants into six life-cycle-based impact categories.
• Finds large industry improved environmental performance faster than the wider economy.
• Reveals uneven progress across impact categories, with limited gains in GHG reductions.

• Provides a tool to support EU and national policymakers in setting environmental priorities.

  Abstract

  This study examines the evolution of larger industry’s environmental performance relative to overall environmental pressures in Europe since 2007. We calculate a single composite index that outlines industry’s contribution of air emissions to potential environmental harms. Our results suggest that large industrial installations across the EU have made faster progress in reducing their environmental footprint than the rest of the economy. The greatest progress has been in reducing acidification potential, while improvements in global warming potential have been slow. At sector level, the energy sector’s contribution to environmental pressures has declined, but it remains the dominant polluter across all environmental impact categories. At the country level, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, and Bulgaria are the six EU countries where large-scale industry’s contribution to total national environmental impact is still greater than 25%. The analysis underscores the importance of tailoring environmental policies to national realities, while also addressing European priorities.