According to quarterly estimates published on Monday 15 May by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, in the fourth quarter of 2022, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from EU economic activity decreased by 4% since the first quarter of 2021.
They went from 978 to 938 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, as stated in the Eurostat publication.
This decline is accompanied by some economic rebound, as shown by the 1.5% increase in EU gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.
This decrease in emissions is observed in almost all Member States, with the exception of Ireland (+12.3%), Latvia (+6.8%), Malta (+6.4%) and Denmark (+1.9%). These countries have also seen their GDP increase. The largest decreases in CO2 emissions were recorded in Slovenia (-15.9%), the Netherlands (-9.9%) and Slovakia (-6.9%).
Of the 23 EU countries that experienced a decrease in GHG emissions, only five countries experienced a decrease in GDP (Estonia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden).
To read the Eurostat publication: https://aeur.eu/f/6y3 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)