Authors: Céline Charveriat (IEEP), Caroline Holme (GlobeScan)

A new report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and GlobeScan identifies the challenges to the European Green Deal’s implementation and provides policy recommendations for addressing them.

The European Green Deal Barometer, launched on Thursday 29 April at an online conference, builds on the Think2030 survey, an expert consultation of nearly 300 sustainability experts from governments and regulators, NGOs, academia, research institutes and the private sector.

The survey was launched in partnership with the Ecologic Institute, the EEAC Network, CAN Europe, AER, EEA, CISL, WWF EPO, Climate Alliance and the Think Sustainable Europe network.

The report was launched at an online conference on 29 April 2021, with the participation of Diederik Samsom, Head of Cabinet to Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and Dr Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency (EEA). 

Key findings

• 33% of respondents see the lack of commitment by the Member States as the biggest barrier to the Green Deal implementation, followed by inadequate governance mechanisms (25% of respondents) and unequal progress across the EU Member States (24% of respondents).
• 38% of respondents see promoting low-carbon, circular supply chains in key emitting sectors as the most positive opportunity provided by the Green Deal, followed by increased investment and accountability from the private sector in the green transition (28% of respondents)
• 37% of respondents see the greatest amount of progress made in ‘increasing the EU’s climate ambition for 2030 and 2050’, followed by ‘supplying clean, affordable, and secure energy’ (24% of respondents).
• Only 13% say that adequate progress has been made on preserving and restoring biodiversity; and 14% on sustainable and healthy agriculture.