Sustainability Briefing — Nordic Freelancers & SMEs
New EEA figures show falling car and van emissions alongside a case for homegrown renewables as Europe's buffer against volatile energy prices, while EU policymakers narrow mandatory sustainability reporting even as EFRAG and green-software groups push voluntary tools and standards, and one advocacy group questions the need for more data centres.
EEA: CO2 from new cars and vans fell sharply in 2025 as EV share grew
Provisional EEA data show average CO2 emissions from newly registered cars in the EU, Norway and Iceland fell to 96.7 g CO2/km in 2025, 10 g less than in 2024, driven mainly by battery-electric vehicles reaching 18.9% of registrations. Average van emissions dropped to 172.1 g CO2/km, with the highest fully electric van shares in the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark.
EU deal narrows the scope of mandatory sustainability reporting
The Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement to simplify CSRD and due-diligence rules, keeping mandatory reporting for companies with more than 1,000 employees and adding a net turnover threshold of over €450 million. The deal aims to limit the trickle-down of reporting obligations onto smaller companies in larger firms' value chains.
EFRAG builds out support ecosystem for voluntary SME reporting
EFRAG has launched a VSME Ecosystem to help non-listed SMEs adopt the voluntary reporting standard, structured around five workstreams including a mapping of digital tools and GHG calculators. It has also produced supporting guides, mock case studies and a digital XBRL template, with material translated into 16 European languages.
Green software: SCI for Web progresses toward a first draft
The Green Web Foundation reports that SCI for Web — a more focused, web-specific version of the ISO software carbon intensity standard — is being developed in collaboration with the W3C, with a working first draft targeted for around Q4. The standard aims to make it easier for existing tools to measure emissions from websites and web applications across servers, networks and end-user devices.
Green Web Foundation calls for a moratorium on large data centres in Europe
In an op-ed for Tech Policy Press, the Green Web Foundation and co-authors argue Europe should pause construction of new large-scale data centres until questions about necessity and sustainability are resolved. They contend there is no solid evidence for tripling data-centre capacity and note that many existing European facilities are underutilised.
EEA: renewables central to lowering prices and cutting fossil-fuel vulnerability
The EEA states that boosting homegrown renewable electricity is Europe's best way to reduce vulnerability to volatile international energy supplies and rising energy prices. The agency frames renewables as both a cost and an energy-security lever amid fossil-fuel supply shocks.