EU27 2012 CO2 emissions expected to have decreased by 2.1% YoY

Early estimates of CO2 emissions from energy use

30-5-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — Eurostat estimates that in 2012 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion decreased by 2.1% in the EU27, compared with the previous year1, after a fall of 4.1% in 2011. CO2 emissions are a major contributor to global warming and account for around 80% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions. They are influenced by factors such as climate conditions, economic growth, size of the population, transport and industrial activities2, while various EU energy efficiency initiatives aim to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

Today, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, publishes for the first time early estimates of CO2 emissions from energy use for 2012. These early estimates are released only five months after the end of the reference year by using monthly energy statistics3.

CO2 emissions fell in twenty-three Member States in 2012

In 2012, the Member State with the highest level of CO2 emissions in absolute terms was Germany (728 million tons), followed by the UnitedKingdom (472 mn tons), Italy (366 mn tons), France (332 mn tons), Poland (297 mn tons) and Spain (258 mn tons). These six Member States accounted together for more than 70% of total EU27 CO2 emissions in 2012.

Eurostat estimates that from 2011 to 2012 CO2 emissions decreased in nearly all Member States, except Malta (+6.3%), the United Kingdom(+3.9%), Lithuania (+1.7%) and Germany (+0.9%). The largest decreases were recorded in Belgium and Finland (both -11.8%), Sweden (-10.1%),Denmark (-9.4%), Cyprus (-8.5%), Bulgaria (-6.9%), Slovakia (-6.5%), the Czech Republic (-5.2%), Italy and Poland (both -5.1%).

CO2 emissions from energy use

* Official 2011 data as reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

** Include some Eurostat estimates

1. See also the press release published by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) on 29 May 2013 on EU Greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2011: http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-union-greenhouse-gas-inventory-2013. The European Union reports greenhouse gas emission inventories annually (Decision 280/2004/EC). They are compiled by the EEA based on national greenhouse gas emission inventories with the assistance of Eurostat and the Joint Research Centre.
2. For further information see the Statistics explained article on the Eurostat website:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Climate_change_-_driving_forces

2. More information about the method used to calculate early CO2 emission estimates can be found on the Eurostat website:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/energy/documents/MethodCO2.pdf

As regards the reliability of the early estimates, comparison of 2011 estimates with final figures showed that EU27 CO2 emissions were overestimated by 1.2%. However estimates differed for some Member States by larger amounts.

Eurostat news releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat