Climate Action

What are Europe’s biggest sources of carbon emissions?

The biggest source of CO2 emissions from European OECD nations is energy, which accounts for some 31% of emissions.

The OECD has calculated total CO2 emissions by sector using its environment statistics, and the following chart is based on these.

1511B16-european co2 emissions energy manufacturing households

Manufacturing and households are the next highest, at 22% of total emissions. After that comes transportation and sewage at 12%.

Other sources of European CO2 emissions include construction (2%), water supply (1%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (2%).

Reducing emissions is a major goal of global economies as they look to tackle climate change, and understanding where the sources of emissions are is an important step on this path.

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Author: Joe Myers is a Digital Content Producer at Formative Content.

Image: Smoke bellows from the chimneys of Belchatow Power Station, Europe’s largest biggest coal-fired power plant. REUTERS/Peter Andrews.

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