Exploring the EU sustainability divide

Abstract

Given the undeniable climate crisis, understanding how the European Union (EU) is investing in fighting against climate change is of critical importance. It is therefore essential to explore whether these efforts and investments reflect a unified strategy or disparities among member states. To achieve this, a factor and cluster analysis is conducted on seven key dimensions of current EU climate change investments, identifying two focus areas: renewable energy and electric mobility (e-mobility). The cluster analysis categorizes EU countries into five distinct groups, ranging from sustainability leaders to laggards. Additionally, the evolution of these disparities is analyzed over time (2018–2020). Findings reveal that Denmark, Luxembourg, and Sweden, emerge as sustainability leaders, in both renewables and e-mobility, showing great capacity e expanding HRES investment and contributing significantly to national load balancing and GHG reductions. In contrast, other nations prioritize one area while neglecting the other, hindering balanced sustainability progress. Additionally, while the variation in the renewables decreased over time, indicating a narrowing asymmetry in this dimension, the variation in the e-mobility increased significantly, reflecting a widening gap. Though progress is evident, achieving a more unified and balanced sustainability strategy across the EU requires further investment in both renewables, including HRES, and e-mobility, alongside policy initiatives that promote holistic climate action and reduction of emissions. Strengthening national implementation plans, financial incentives, and public awareness, together with a cross-country knowledge-sharing initiatives, are suggested to improve the fair and sustained progress of all countries toward the EU's green transition goals.