Europe trails in AI-driven autonomous industry adoption, risking climate targets

A Schneider Electric report shows that Europe views autonomous operations as essential for meeting its net‑zero climate goals, yet only about 25 % of European energy and process sites are fully autonomous, behind the global average of 31 %. The study, based on responses from 400 senior decision‑makers across 12 European countries, warns that delayed AI‑driven automation could cause un‑mitigated emissions and erode the continent’s competitive edge. Swedish leaders are especially optimistic, citing competitive advantages, concrete pilot‑project results and productivity gains as primary drivers for scaling autonomy.

At the same time, a debate during Almedalsveckan highlighted Europe’s heavy reliance on foreign digital technology – roughly 80 % of hardware and most leading AI models are imported from the United States. Representatives from Sweden, Denmark and other Nordic countries called for a concrete European digital‑sovereignty strategy to reduce this dependence and protect democratic values.