The State of Green-Tech Regulation and Claims in 2025: 50 Statistics Shaping Policy, Regulation, and Green Claims

As green technology scales globally, regulation and accountability are increasingly critical. From legally binding net-zero targets to the crackdown on misleading environmental claims, 2025 is a pivotal year for policy-driven innovation and transparency.

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In this article, we’ve compiled 50 important statistics that spotlight how governments, regulators, and businesses are shaping the future of green tech—covering everything from renewable energy mandates to the rise (and risk) of greenwashing in marketing. If you want to learn more about greenwashing and how to avoid it, check out our dedicated resource on spotting greenwashing and how your business can stay compliant, credible, and clear.

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Green-tech Regulation & Policy Statistics

1. It was found that around 6% of trade mark applications were identified as green. Most green trade marks relate to energy conservation, which accounts for around 26% of green trade marks (GOV.UK, 2024).
2. A study analysing data from 280 Chinese cities between 2003 and 2019 found that environmental regulations significantly boost green technology innovation (Zhang, Xie and Gao, 2022).
3. Research indicates that environmental regulations have a total impact of 0.223% on green technological innovation, with direct effects accounting for 0.099% (Wang et al., 2023).
4. The UK Climate Change Act contains a legally binding long-term goal to reduce the UK’s net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero in 2050 (Climate Change Committee, 2020).
5. The European Climate Law sets the intermediate target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels (European Commission, 2024).
6. The European Climate Law includes a legal objective for the Union to reach climate neutrality by 2050  (European Commission, 2024).
7. The UK Government has commenced a consultation on phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 (Department for Transport, 2024).
8. The EU's Clean Energy Package includes measures to facilitate the integration of renewables into the electricity market and promote energy storage. In 2024, renewables generated a new all-time high of 48% of electricity in the EU (Europa Lex (EUR-Lex), 2025).
9.  The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 commits Scotland to a Net Zero target of 2045. This includes a 75% by 2030 and 90% by 2040 against the baseline (Gov.Scot, 2023).
10.  Wales operates under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, which mandates the Welsh Government to set carbon budgets and targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Act aims for net zero emissions by 2050, with interim targets of a 63% reduction by 2030 and an 89% reduction by 2040 (Gov.Wales, 2024).
11.  Northern Ireland implemented the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) in 2022. This Act sets a legally binding target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It also includes interim targets of a 48% reduction by 2030 and requires the establishment of carbon budgets (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, 2023).
12.  The Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) sets other sectoral targets including 2030 targets at least 80% of electricity consumption from renewable sources and 70% of waste is recycled, as well as a target for a minimum spend of 10% of overall transport budgets on active travel (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, 2023).
13.  In 2024, renewable energy accounted for 59% of Germany's electricity generation, up from 56% in 2023. Wind energy was the largest contributor at 31.9%, followed by solar energy at 14.7%. This growth is attributed to policies accelerating renewable energy deployment, such as easier wind permits (Deutsche Welle, 2025).
14.  In Germany, net public electricity generation from renewable energy sources reached a record share of 62.7 percent in 2024. Solar power generation reached a new record of 72.2 terawatt hours in 2024, and the expansion of photovoltaics continued to exceed the federal government's targets (Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, 2025).
15.  The Australian government is investing $20 billion through its Rewiring the Nation plan to modernise electricity grids and support the integration of renewable energy projects into the national power system (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 2023).
16.  The Indian Government has set a target for establishing 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 (Government of India Ministry of Power, 2023).
17.  The Indian government has launched transmission schemes to integrate 66.5 GW of renewable energy generation across various states. These projects are currently at various stages of implementation (Government of India Ministry of Power, 2023).
18.  Canada has developed the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, which outlines a sector-by-sector pathway to reduce emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 (Government of Canada, 2022).
19.  The Government of Canada has committed to achieving 100% zero-emission vehicle sales for all new light-duty vehicles by 2035. This includes interim targets of at least 20% by 2026 and at least 60% by 2030, as outlined in Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (Transport Canada, 2024).
20.  The revised Renewable Energy Directive EU/2023/2413 raises the EU's binding renewable target for 2030 to a minimum of 42.5%, up from the previous 32% target, with the aspiration to reach 45% (European Commission, 2023).
21.  The United States Department of Energy's Energy Earthshots initiative targets reducing the cost of clean hydrogen to $1 per kilogram within a decade, supporting the transition to a net-zero carbon economy by 2050 (U.S. Department of Energy, 2024).
22.  According to the United States Department of Energy's estimates, reducing the cost of clean hydrogen to $1 per kilogram could result in at least a five-fold increase in the use of hydrogen—and all of that hydrogen would be clean (resulting in low or zero greenhouse gas emissions) (U.S. Department of Energy, 2024).
23.  According to analysis from the Department of Energy, the tech-neutral credits, along with other Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provisions, are expected to save American families up to $38 billion on electricity bills through 2030 (U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2025).
24.  China continues to lead in terms of renewable electricity capacity additions, with almost 350 GW added in 2023, two-thirds all global deployment. The 14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy, released in 2022, provides ambitious targets for renewable energy use, which should spur investment in the coming years (International Energy Agency, 2023).
25.  China published its 14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy in June 2022, which includes an ambitious target of 33% of electricity generation to come from renewables by 2025 (up from about 29% in 2021) and, for the first time, a target for renewable heat use (International Energy Agency, 2023).
26.  In May 2022 the European Commission proposed to increase the European Union’s renewable energy target for 2030 to 45% as part of the REPowerEU Plan (which would require 1 236 GW of total installed renewable capacity) (International Energy Agency, 2023).
27.  To meet the global target of tripling renewable energy to 11,000 GW by 2030, set at COP28, significant expansion of both grid infrastructure and energy storage capacity is required by 2025 and beyond (Global Renewables Alliance, 2024).
28.  Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill, companies with consumer-facing products and services will face the threat of civil penalties of up to 10% of their global turnover for misleading claims - including greenwashing (Duncan & Toplis, 2024).
29.  The EU aims to produce 40% of its clean technology domestically by 2030, as outlined in the Net-Zero Industry Act (European Commission, 2023).
30.  At the COP28 climate talks, nearly 120 countries pledged to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, aiming for a global capacity of 11 terawatts (TW) (The Guardian, 2024).
31.  An analysis of over 1,500 climate policies from 41 countries between 1998 and 2020 found that only 63 policies effectively reduced greenhouse gas emissions, which reduced total emissions between 0.6 and 1.8 Gt CO2 (University of Oxford, 2024).
32.  In 2024, the EU's REPowerEU Plan contributed to a record 78 GW of newly installed wind and solar capacity, while renewables generated 48% of the EU's electricity—up from 45% in 2023 and 41% in 2022. Additionally, heat pump sales reached 3 million units in both 2022 and 2023, enhancing energy efficiency and resilience (Europa Lex (EUR-Lex), 2025).
33.  The revised EU SET Plan (updated in 2023) targets 42.5% renewable energy by 2030, doubling the current share, with 5% of new capacity from innovative renewable technologies (EU Monitor, 2023).
34.  The US Inflation Reduction Act has allocated $27 billion to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to support state and local green initiatives (Deloitte Insights, 2024).
35.  Green patenting increases with increases in domestic climate policies: a major jump in climate policies boosts green patent filings by 10% in five years (International Monetary Fund, 2023).
36.  The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme was introduced by the UK Government to encourage the adoption of renewable energy technologies for heating. By 2022, it had supported over 80,000 installations in domestic and non-domestic sectors (Ofgem, 2022).
37.  California’s ZEV regulation requires that 100% of new car sales be zero-emission vehicles by 2035. By 2022, ZEVs accounted for about 18% of new car sales in the state (Nature Communications, 2023).
38.  Empirical studies indicate that a 1% increase in the stringency of environmental regulations correlates with a 3.456% improvement in the efficiency of industrial green transformation (MDPI, 2024).

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Green Claims

39. Analysis from the British Retail Consortium and Provenance suggests that 74% of all products marketed online by British retailers feature some form of green claim (The British retail consortium, 2024).
40. During a screening of 344 green claims,  the European Commission found that 42% of the green claims were exaggerated, false, or deceptive (European Commission, 2021).
41. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024 will give the CMA the power to impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s worldwide turnover, including misleading green claims (GOV.UK, 2024).
42. In the EU, 40% of green claims lack supporting evidence (European Union, 2024).
43. In the EU, 53% of green claims give vague, misleading or unfounded information (European Union, 2024).
44. There are 230 sustainability labels and 100 green energy labels in the EU, with vastly different levels of transparency (European Union, 2024).
45. A study by the British Retail Consortium found that nature-related claims accounted for more than half (55%) of green claims; just 15% of these were classified as High Risk  (The British retail consortium, 2024).
46. An analysis by the British Retail Consortium revealed that almost 3 in 4 products feature some form of green claim (The British retail consortium, 2024).
47. A report/research from the Circular Economy indicates that 59% of green claims made by top European fashion brands are misleading (Circular Economy, 2021).
48. A CMA co-ordinated global review of randomly selected websites found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading consumers (GOV.UK, 2021).
49.  A survey conducted among Australian consumers in 2022 revealed that around 74% of respondents were influenced to purchase a product based on the green claim that the product was made of biodegradable, compostable, or natural materials (Statista, 2022).
50. According to new research from KPMG in the UK, 54% of consumers would cease purchasing from a company if it were found to have made misleading sustainability claims (KPMG, 2023).

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Green-tech is no longer the future—innovation is happening now. However, innovation without oversight can stall progress and erode trust. These statistics reveal how policy and regulation are catching up to the pace of technological change, driving accountability, and setting new standards for environmental claims. 

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