Nature and Biodiversity

This is what happened to CO2 emissions in the EU last year

A motor glider flies near the Belchatow Coal Mine, the biggest opencast mine of brown coal in Poland, outside of Belchatow Power Station, Europe's largest coal-fired power plant, in Belchatow October 31, 2013. The 19th conference of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change will begin in Warsaw from Monday, November 11. Picture taken October 31, 2013.    REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

The European Union reduced its CO2 emissions by 2.5% last year Image: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Douglas Broom
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

The European Union reduced its CO2 emissions by 2.5% last year, with all but eight of the EU’s 28 nations emitting less of the greenhouse gas in 2018 than the year prior.

Leading the pack and achieving a cut of 9% was Portugal. The country had separately reported last month that almost 60% of its electricity generation in the first quarter of this year came from renewable sources – wind, hydropower and solar power.

Bulgaria - which has seen a surge in green power generation investment in recent years and is in the process of liberalizing its energy market - achieved the second biggest reduction, cutting its emissions by 8% last year.

Image: Eurostat

Higher growth, more emissions

At the other end of the spectrum is Latvia, where emissions soared by over 8% because imported gas was used to meet increased demand for electricity generation. Demand was bolstered by a 5% hike in gross domestic product last year.

Rapid population growth and a burgeoning tourism sector saw Malta record the second-highest rate of emissions growth last year. The small island nation is almost entirely dependent on imported gas for power generation.

Limited terrain has curtailed Malta's ability to install large-scale solar plants, despite enjoying high sunshine levels. As a result, Malta has the third lowest level of renewable resources in the EU.

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The EU has set a target of obtaining 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Overall, the the bloc says it is on track to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 1980 levels by next year. Total emissions fell by 22% between 1990 and 2017.

The next target is to cut emissions by a further 40% against 1990 levels between 2021 and 2030. The EU wants renewable sources to account for a third of power generation by the same date.

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