Green Europe 2050
Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 represents a goal of the European Union
Corina Cristea, 14.11.2025, 12:05
Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 represents a goal of the European Union. An ambitious one, which involves the transformation of sectors such as industry, energy, transportation, construction, agriculture, or forestry and which presupposes action to reduce to zero the amount of net greenhouse gas emissions, concurrent with the implementation of means by which even this reduction is to be absorbed or compensated for. The subject is a sensitive and pressing one, because poverty represents, at present, the greatest global challenge. Toxic air shortens lives, plastic suffocates the oceans, and climate change is no longer just a theory, but a reality we breathe, see, feel every second. A reality that demands accountability, for governments and companies alike. But also for everyone individually, starting from reducing food waste, to using public transport or recycling. Pollution also means soils poisoned with pesticides or uncollected electronic waste, and every negligent gesture comes back to us in the form of contaminated food or respiratory diseases that appear in industrial areas, but also in urban areas. Oana Neneciu, from the Ecopolis Association:
“Aggressive industrial pollution is indeed a matter for discussion. But what happens to us in the city is that we live in some alarming levels of pollution with fine particles that we do not see or feel, and which, slowly but surely, affect our health very strongly. Hence the reports of the World Health Organization that draw attention every year to this air pollution from the urban clusters that are polluted. It is not an industrial pollution that you necessarily smell or see. It It is an invisible pollution, which, in fact, every year prematurely kills over eight million citizens worldwide.”
In short, the European Union’s goal of becoming climate neutral involves lower carbon emissions, more green energy, clean transport, and smart cities. Until 2050, Brussels is investing massively in renewable energy, innovation, and environmental education. There is also a need, however, for a mindset shift, and this would ideally take place globally. However, with less than a month before the 30th United Nations climate change conference, more than half of the world’s countries do not have any plan to reduce CO2 emissions, expert Radu Dudau said, president of the Energy Policy Group, an independent organization focused on energy and climate policy.
Present at a special event organized in Bucharest, he drew attention to the fact that climate diplomacy faces a series of challenges, including the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Radu Dudău:
“We are now at a critical juncture, as some of the foundations of climate diplomacy are being called into question. Globally, there is a state of confusion regarding scientific consensus and public perception of certain elements in particular, which stand at the base of climate science. Although we are talking about a very solid climate science, it seems that public acceptance of it is eroding around the world. There are many challenges, and the member states of the UN Convention must also prevent climate change. contributions determined at the national level. Practically, they should say exactly what they will do and what targets they are trying to establish to reduce carbon emissions.”
Investments in technology transfer to developing countries will be crucial, as very generous commitments from the past seem unlikely to be honored, and are unlikely to be fulfilled in the current approach, expert Radu Dudau considers. Climate change has no borders, and climate action represents a strategic investment in our collective safety, health and prosperity. There is a need for urban transformation, experts say. Here is Grațian Mihăilescu, founder of the platform UrbanizeHub:
“Cities, because of pollution, are becoming increasingly unbearable. We see how summers are in Bucharest. Therefore, there is a need for these urban transformations. What is needed is quality of life, there is need for green spaces, there is need for urban planning, there is need to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings.”
Every gesture counts, because every car that passes us by, every piece of packaging thrown to the ground and every wisp of smoke that rises from a production unit adds a hint of darkens to the landscape we breathe on. Official data shows that, due to heat waves generated by climate change, in Europe this year alone, before September, 32 thousand people have died.
