Recession Reduces 2008 EU CO2 Emissions

The impact of the recession on climate change lowered overall EU greenhouse gas emissions for 2008 by 1.5 per cent, official data issued on August 31st highlighted.  The reductions, according to the EEA (European Environment Agency), could be attributed to lower emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases produced by the transport, industrial and energy sectors as a result of burning fossil fuels like coal. 

2008 CO2 Emissions

27 countries in all make up the EU, and the 1.5 per cent slump referred to them as a whole.  15 of these, meanwhile, are committed to slash carbon dioxide emissions in line with the Kyoto Protocol, and the average 2008 CO2 emissions reduction recorded across them was 1.3 per cent, compared to the previous year.  This reduction, said the EEA, mirrored 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.”

EU CO2 Emissions

It should be noted that the agency’s figures are preliminary at this stage, and will be firmed up in 2010.  They indicate, however, that the 15 Kyoto-bound nations achieved a 2008 EU CO2 emissions reduction of approximately 6.2 per cent under 1990 levels.  The entire EU community of 27 nations achieved a 2008 CO2 emissions reduction of about 10.7 per cent under 1990 levels.  The terms of the Kyoto Protocol require EU emissions of CO2 and other gases to have dropped 20 per cent below the 1990 benchmark by 2020.

According to an EU official, these achievements put the EU on an encouraging path to achieving the 2020 Kyoto goal, taking the global financial situation into account. 

“These provisional figures are a further confirmation that the EU is well on track to reach its Kyoto target, even if one should recognise that part of the reduction in emissions is due to the economic slowdown”, Stavros Dimas, Environment Commissioner at the EU, stated.

He added: “This trend needs to be further consolidated in the coming years.  This is a timely message to the rest of the world in the run up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December.”

See also:

EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Down in 2007