CSI 010 - Greenhouse gas emission trends - Assessment published Nov 2005

Assessment versions

• Published (reviewed and quality assured):
  • Assessment published Mar 2009 [Latest version]
  • Assessment published Feb 2008
  • Assessment published Feb 2007
  • Assessment published Nov 2005 [This version]
• Draft (not yet published - not quality assured):
  • No drafts available.

What progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Europe?

Fig. 1: Development of EU-15 greenhouse gas emissions from base year to 2003 and distance to the (hypothetical) linear EU Kyoto target path (excluding flexible mechanisms) (Ver. 2.00)

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Data source:

ETC/ACC 2004

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Fig. 2: Distance to target for the EU-15 in 2003 (EU Kyoto Protocol and EU Member State burden-sharing targets) (Ver. 2.00)

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Data source:

ETC/ACC

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Fig. 3: Development of the EU-10 greenhouse gas emissions from base year to 2003 (Ver. 2.00)

Note: N/A

Data source:

ETC/ACC

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Key assessment

• In 2003, four EU-15 Member States (France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom) were below their burden sharing target paths excluding Kyoto Mechanisms. Luxembourg and the Netherlands were below their burden sharing target paths including Kyoto Mechanisms. Nine Member States were above their burden-sharing target paths: Greece and Portugal (excluding Kyoto Mechanisms), Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain (including Kyoto Mechanisms). Compared to 2002 Austria and Finland departed the most from their target path due to increases in electricity and heat production.
• The favourable picture for the EU-15 as a whole has been determined largely by considerable emissions cuts in Germany and the UK, the EU's two biggest emitters, which together account for about 40% of total EU-15 GHG emissions. The 1990 to 2003 reductions amounted to 18.5% in Germany and 13.3% in the UK.
• Italy and France, the third and fourth largest emitters, increased (11.6 %) and decreased (-1.9 %) their emissions between 1990 and 2003. Emissions in Finland, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain have increased by more than 20% since 1990.

Specific policy question: What are the emission changes by sector and by greenhouse gas?

Fig. 4: Change in EU-10 emissions of greenhouse gases by sector and gas 1990-2003 (Ver. 2.00)

Note: N/A

Data source:

ETC/ACC 2005

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Fig. 5: Change in EU-15 emissions of greenhouse gases by sector and gas 1990-2003 (Ver. 2.00)

Note: N/A

Data source:

ETC/ACC 2005

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Specific assessment

EU-15 GHG emissions have shown a small decrease between base year and 2003 of 1.7%, despite increases in GDP.

Sources and sectors with increasing emissions:

• Transport CO₂ emissions (with 20% of total EU-15 GHG emissions) increased by 23% due to road transport growth in almost all EU-15 Member States. Emissions of N₂O from transport increased by more than 100%. The reason is mainly that catalytic converters, which reduce cars' exhaust emissions of certain air pollutants but produce N₂O as a by-product, have become standard equipment.
• CO₂ emissions from energy industries increased by 3.3% due to increasing fossil fuel consumption in public electricity and heat plants. Most Member States had increases between 1990 and 2003, whereas the large Member States Germany and the United Kingdom reduced their emissions by 12% and 10%, respectively. The most important reason for Germany were efficiency improvements in coal-fired power plants and for the United Kingdom it was the fuel switch from coal to gas in power production.

Sources and sectors with decreasing emissions:

• Reductions were achieved especially in CO₂ emissions from manufacturing industries and construction (-11 %), mainly due to efficiency improvements and structural change in Germany after reunification.
• CH₄ emissions from fugitive emissions decreased the most (-52 %, mainly due to the decline of coal mining), followed by the waste sector (-34 %, mainly due to reducing the amount of untreated biodegradable waste in landfills and installing landfill gas recovery).
• N₂O emissions from industrial processes decreased by 56 % mainly due to specific measures at adipic acid production plants in the UK, Germany and France. Also N₂O emissions from agricultural soils fell by 11% between 1990 and 2003, due to a decline in fertiliser and manure use.
• HFC, PFC and SF₆ emissions from industrial processes, which account for 1.6% of GHG emissions, decreased by 4 %. Large increases mainly as the result of the expanding use of HFCs as a substitute for ozone-depleting CFCs that were gradually phased out in the 1990s were offset by decreases of emissions from the production of halocarbons and SF6.

In new Member States, CO₂ is the most important GHG (82.7% of total emissions) and it was reduced by 31.7 % between 1990 and 2003. Second is CH₄ (share 9.8 %, decrease 40 %) and third is N₂O (share 7.1 %, decrease 28 %). Compared to the base year, emissions of all of these gases decreased significantly. The share of F-gases is 0.4 %. These emissions have been increasing since 1990 (+74 %), but there are still countries which do not report F-gases.

Methodology, data sources and references

See this indicator specification for methodology, data sources, rationale and more relevant details.

General metadata