EU action on energy and climate change : a landscape review : summary

In 2016, the warmest year on record, the world was on average 1.1 °C warmer than in the pre-industrial period. Climate change and its causes are no longer subject to serious scientific dispute. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, human influence on the climate system is clear and is evident from the increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and the warming observed. Energy and climate change are closely interlinked. In the EU, energy production - mainly from the transformation and combustion of fossil fuels - and energy use - for example by industry, households and transport - account for 79 % of EU greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, effective action on energy production and its use is essential to tackle climate change. Energy and climate change raise many issues which are best dealt with by states working together. As a result, they are high on the EU's agenda.