Progress is being made to reduce the environmental impact made by manufacturing. According to Eurostat, the European Union's (EU) emissions from April to June 2023 totalled 821 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents - a 5.3 per cent decline compared to the same period the previous year. Manufacturing accounted for 23.5 per cent of the total drop.

But if the EU is to meet its climate targets of carbon emissions 55 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030, and net zero by 2050, it must cut GHG pollution almost three times more quickly than it has over the past decade.