The European Union reduced its net greenhouse gas emissions by 8.9% in 2023, according to the inventory published on Wednesday 16 April by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and submitted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This fall, the biggest in percentage terms since 1990, brings total net emissions to 2,908 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, or 1,728 Mt less than in 1990 (-37%).
The decrease is largely due to the accelerated decarbonisation of the energy sector.
Emissions from public electricity and heat production fell by 22% in one year – a record since European inventories began.
A significant reduction in coal and natural gas consumption and a significant increase in renewable energies, especially hydroelectricity, wind and solar power, have led to this result. However, the use of bioenergy has declined.
According to the EEA, CO2 emissions from the energy sector have fallen by 53% since 1990, as a result of improvements in energy efficiency, the gradual replacement of solid and liquid fuels by natural gas (+48% over the period) and an increasingly carbon-free electricity mix.
Coal accounted for almost three times more emissions in 1990 than in 2023.
Beyond energy, the most significant reductions have been recorded in industry (-46%), the steel industry (-133 Mt CO2 between 2022 and 2023), the residential sector (-175 Mt) and chemical processes, such as nitric acid production (-39 Mt).
Some sectors are following the opposite trajectory. Emissions from road transport and refrigeration systems continue to rise due to growing demand.
Finally, carbon sink capacity in the LULUCF sector (land use, land use change and forestry) has deteriorated due to the ageing of forests, increased felling and the consequences of climate disruption.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/ghm (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)