Energy-related CO2 emissions in the European Union fell by 5% (-160 million tonnes) in 2019, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Tuesday 11 February.
According to the IEA, this decrease is mainly due to the increase in renewable energies and the shift from coal to natural gas.
"Output from the European Union’s coal-fired power plants dropped by more than 25% in 2019, while gas-fired generation increased by close to 15% to overtake coal for the first time", the Agency said.
At the global level, energy-related CO2 emissions flattened in 2019 (at around 33 gigatonnes), following two years of increases, thanks notably to the expanding role of renewable energies in developed economies.
In particular, the United States recorded the largest drop in emissions, with a fall of 2.9%, i.e. 140 million less tonnes of CO2.
While emissions also fell in Japan (-4%), they increased by 400 million tonnes in the rest of the world, mainly due to coal-fired power plants in Asia.
"We now need to work hard to make sure that 2019 is remembered as a definitive peak in global emissions, not just another pause in growth", said Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA.
For IEA figures: http://bit.ly/3bz9HQ7 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)