The environmental impact of EPH' s investments are vast. It is estimated that EPH accounted for 2.5% of all European power sector CO2 emissions in 2015. Including CO2 emissions from the coal they mine, this rises to 6%. Their published coal reserves of one billion tonnes are equivalent to more than one year of total EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) emissions. These figures will go up dramatically after the sale of Vattenfall's coal activities in Germany to EPH will be completed over the summer of 2016.

In April 2016 urgewald, a German NGO, published its report on Vattenfall, called Vattenfall's dark side. It tells the story of Vattenfall's dirty coal business. Vattenfall's east German power plants are among the top CO2 polluters in the European Union. But instead of beginning to phase-out and retire these CO2 factories, Vattenfall has opted to sell its lignite assets. The outcome for our climate is predictable as EPH, the new owner's intention is to prolong the lifetimes of these plants for as long as possible.

EPH is on course to become Europe’s third most polluting utility, with annual emissions of 82 million tonnes – roughly equivalent to Austria’s carbon footprint.