Europe's renewable energy divide is getting wider, not narrower
Twenty years of EU climate policy. One inconvenient pattern in the data.
Sweden generates almost two-thirds of its energy from renewables. Belgium manages barely one in seven. Both are founding members of the European Union. Both have been bound by the same climate targets for two decades.
The geographic pattern is immediate. Nordic and Baltic states have largely met or exceeded EU targets. Much of western and southern Europe has not.
But the more troubling story is not where countries stand today. It is the direction they are moving.
Denmark has made remarkable progress, gaining 31 percentage points over 20 years. Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland have barely moved. These are not struggling economies. They are among the wealthiest countries in Europe, with full access to the same funding, directives and policy tools as everyone else.
The gap between the EU’s greenest and least green member state peaked at 53 percentage points in 2022. With six years left until the 2030 deadline, 21 of 27 countries are still below the 42.5% target.
The data has been there all along.
It just needed a map.
Data: Eurostat nrg_ind_ren, Share of energy from renewable sources, 2004 to 2024.
Analysis and visualisations: Josep Ferrer · databites.tech