Published: 31 Aug 2009
- New European Environment Agency (EEA)
estimates indicate that EU greenhouse gas
emissions decreased in 2008 for the fourth
consecutive year. Compared to the 2007 official
emissions published earlier this year, the
annual reduction
is estimated to be about 1.3 % for the EU-15
and 1.5 % for the EU-27. Based on these
estimates, the greenhouse gas emissions
in 2008 stand approximately 6.2 % below
the Kyoto base-year emissions for the EU-15,
and 10.7 % below the 11000 level for the
EU-27.
The vast majority of
the decline in emissions in 2008 was due
to lower CO2 emissions from fossil fuel
combustion in the energy, industry and transport
sectors. The 2008 emission reductions reflect
the effects of the global economic recession
which began in 2008, which resulted in reduced
industrial output and reduced energy consumption
by industry, and correspondingly reduced
freight transport. The reductions are also
apparent in the verified emissions from
EU ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) for 2008,
where total EU-27 emissions decreased by
3.9 % between 2007 and 2008.
This is the first time
that EEA has produced EU-wide estimates
of total greenhouse gas emissions just months
after the year in question. The EEA estimates
do not take into account the effects of
changes in land use. They are based on the
publicly available verified EU ETS emissions
for 2008 and other national and European
sources, available as of mid-July 2009.
The detailed EEA methodology will be published
in the coming weeks.
These 2008 emission
estimates will be used to better track progress
towards EU targets in the annual EEA report
on greenhouse gas emission trends and projections
in Europe, which will be published later
this year.
The official 2008 greenhouse
gas emissions for the EU will be available
in June 2010, when the EEA publishes the
EU Greenhouse Gas Inventory 11000–2008 and
Inventory Report 2010, to be submitted to
the UNFCCC.
Notes
Under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU-15 has
a common commitment to reduce emissions
on average by 8 % between 2008 and 2012
compared to emissions in the 'base year'.
The base-year emissions for the EU-15 have
been fixed to 4 265.5 million tonnes CO2-equivalent.
Unlike the EU-15, the
EU-27 does not have a common target under
the Kyoto Protocol and therefore the EU-27
does not have an applicable base-year against
which to compare emission changes. Emission
changes compared to 11000 are applicable
to the EU-27 as it has made a unilateral
commitment to achieve at least a 20 % reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared
to 11000.
