EU greenhouse gas emissions kept decreasing in 2018
The European Union (EU) cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 23.2 % from 1990 to 2018, according to latest official data, published May 29, 2020 by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The European Union (EU) cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 23.2 % from 1990 to 2018, according to latest official data, published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Over the period, the EU’s contribution to global emissions decreased from 15 % to 8 %. In 2018, the EU’s emissions decreased by 2.1 %, confirming the EEA’s preliminary estimates published in October 2019.
The official data submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) confirm that the EU Member States, together with the United Kingdom (UK), cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 2.1 % in 2018. The EEA report ‘Trends and drivers of EU greenhouse gas emissions’ analyses the development in these data from 1990 to 2018.
Total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU stood at 4 392 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2018, which is 23.2 % lower than in 1990. The EU reduction without the UK was 20.7 % and, over the same period, average emissions per EU citizen decreased from 12.2 tonnes CO2e to 8.9 tonnes CO2e.
Two thirds of the 2018 emission reduction took place in the heat and power sector, where emissions from coal burning decreased by almost 50 million tonnes and the use of renewables in electricity generation continued to grow. After four consecutive years of increases, emissions from road transport remained stable in 2018, compared with 2017.
The EEA analysis shows that the carbon intensity of the EU economy has more than halved over the past three decades. For each Euro generated in the economy, the EU emitted 277 grams of CO2 in 2018, compared with 582 g CO2 per Euro in 1990. Emissions have decreased in almost all economic sectors, especially in energy supply, industry and the residential sector. In the transport sector, emissions have increased due to higher demand and despite climate policies and efforts to improve vehicles efficiency.
