(Credit: Canva Pro)The European Union reported a drop in greenhouse gas emissions during the first three months of the year, according to Eurostat.
Across the EU, which includes 27 countries in Europe, emissions fell during the first quarter in almost all EU countries compared to the first quarter of 2022. However, emissions didn’t fall in Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The largest declines in emissions were observed in Bulgaria, Estonia and Slovenia.
Overall, greenhouse gas emissions totaled 941 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalents (CO2-eq), nearly a 3% decrease compared with the same three-month period of 2022. Emissions fell in five out of nine economic sectors, with the biggest decrease in electricity and gas supply (-12.3%).
The breakdown of economic sectors responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions were households (24%), manufacturing (20%), electricity, gas supply (19%), agriculture (13%), followed by transportation and storage (10%), which saw a 7.2% increase in emissions.
At the same time, the EU reported an increase in productivity.
"This decrease took place simultaneously with a 1.2% increase in the EU's GDP in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter of 2022," Eurostat said.
While overall GDP increased, six countries that decreased their emissions did see their GDP fall, including Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, and Poland. Fifteen EU countries -- Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, Malta, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Romania, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, and Bulgaria -- managed to decrease emissions while growing their GDP, Eurostat said.
The report details the three months following the EU’s work on its green deal, which aims to reform the EU’s trading system for greenhouse gas emissions and to create a new hardship fund for those hit the hardest by measures to curb climate change.
