EU: Greenhouse gas emissions 2016

"The EU is firmly on track to meet its 2020 emissions targets. However we all need to intensify our efforts if we are to meet more ambitious longer term goals for 2030 and 2050", said Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environmental Agency (EEA).

Greenhouse gas emissions for 2016 decreased by 0.7% from 2015. The drop corresponds to a 23% decrease in emissions between 1990 and 2016. The decrease in 2016 was mainly due to a rising share of renewable energy and a switch from coal to gas in the power generation. EU ETS which covers large industrial facilities and intra-EU flights emissions declined by 2.6 %. This reduction was driven by emission cuts in large power plants. Emissions from airline operators (3 % of the total emissions covered by the EU ETS) increased 7.6 %.

In the other sectors (transport, buildings, agriculture and waste), for which Member States have emissions targets at national level, estimates indicate that emissions increased by 0.9 %. A higher demand for heating (because of weather conditions) and a higher transport demand in 2016 explains the increase.

Twenty-one EU Member States expect to keep or reduce their emissions below their national targets by 2020. However, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta need to enhance their efforts immediately to meet their 2020 targets.

Source: EEA
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