According to data published on Friday 16 August by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions from the European Union economy were estimated at 894 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2-eq) in the first quarter of 2024, a fall of 4.0% compared with the same period in 2023.
Despite this reduction, the EU’s gross domestic product remained stable, with a slight increase of 0.3%.
The sectors most responsible for this fall were electricity and gas supply (-12.6%) and households (-4.4%). Of the 20 Member States that have reduced their emissions, 8 have also seen their GDP fall (Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and the Czech Republic).
The other 12 EU countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and Croatia) have managed to do so while maintaining economic growth.
Eurostat data: https://aeur.eu/f/d7e (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)