Brussels, 22/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - In 2014, greenhouse gas emissions were 24.4% lower than in 1990 - a record fall recorded in most sectors of the economy, with the notable exception of transport, where emissions rose for the first time since 2007, according to a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on 21 June and submitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The data were published a month before the Commission is due to present, on 20 July, its communication on the decarbonisation of transport and its legislative proposal on effort sharing among the member states on a 30% reduction in emissions (by 2030 compared with 2005) in non-ETS sectors (at the forefront of which is transport but also including agriculture, construction and waste). They were immediately welcomed both by the EEA and by the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) which saw them as a strong argument for sustainable transport.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director, said that the figures, drawn from the annual EU's annual emissions inventory, were “an important step towards reaching our 2030 and 2050 climate targets”. However, he argued, the EU must further boost investment in low-carbon technologies and innovation “aimed at reducing our dependence on fossil fuels”.
The report reveals that EU emissions had fallen by 1,383 million tonnes since 1990 to 4,282 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2014 - progress due to a variety of factors, such as the increasing percentage of renewables in total energy consumption, energy efficiencies and also the economic recession. The EEA report does not cover international air or maritime transport, emissions from which have, however, greatly increased: by 93 million tonnes in total between 1990 and 2014, the EEA says.
Road transport was the sector where the increase was greatest: rising by 124 million tonnes of CO2 between 1990 and 2014 and by 7 million tonnes between 2013 and 2014.
Call to action on decarbonisation of transport. For T&E, “these numbers serve as a wake-up call to those who thought that Europe was turning the corner on its transport emissions. Transport is now without question Europe's biggest climate problem. The European Commission has no choice but to help member states and come with an ambitious 'efficiency and electrification' strategy for transport with new car and truck CO2 standards by 2025”, said T&E Executive Director Jos Dings in a press release (see EUROPE 11535).
T&E notes, however, that transport emissions are, in fact, 6% higher than what the EEA figures indicate since “biofuels used in transport are counted as zero-carbon and hence 'disappear' from the numbers, despite the fact that most biofuels used in Europe are worse for the climate than their fossil equivalents”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)