Initial Estimates Show EU Carbon Emissions Fell In 2018

Eurostat, the statistical body of the European Union (EU), has released early statistics that show an overall decrease in the level of carbon emissions from industry in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Portugal and Bulgaria recorded the largest percentage falls at 9.0 and 8.1 percent respectively, but these two countries only produce 2.7 percent of the EU's overall emissions. The biggest polluters, Germany at 22.5 percent, the United Kingdom at 11.4 percent and France and Italy at 10 percent all recorded lower emissions. Poland, which produces 10.3 percent of the EU's carbon emissions, saw an increase of 3.5 percent in 2018.

The largest producer of carbon emissions by far was Germany, which managed a 5.4 percent decrease in its overall emissions. This was better than both Italy and France, which both achieved 3.5 percent reductions and considerably higher than the United Kingdom, the EU's second-largest polluter, which could only manage a 0.3 percent reduction.

The statistics released by Eurostat on 8 May are early estimates and may change when the final calculations are made.

Carbon dioxide emissions account for approximately 80 percent of all EU greenhouse gas emissions and these emissions are influenced by a number of factors, including climate conditions, economic growth, population size, transport and industrial activities.

Eurostat also points out that "imports and exports of energy products have an impact on CO₂ emissions in the country where fossil fuels are burned: for example if coal is imported this leads to an increase in emissions, while if electricity is imported, it has no direct effect on emissions in the importing country, as these would be reported in the exporting country where it is produced."

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