Malta had the highest increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions among EU countries from 2011 to 2012, recording a 6.3 per cent rise, according to Eurostat figures published today.
Eurostat said in a statement it estimated that CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion last year decreased by 2.1 per cent in the EU27, compared with the previous year, after a fall of 4.1 per cent in 2011.
Germany produced the highest level of CO2 emissions in absolute terms (728 million tons), followed by the United Kingdom (472 million tons), Italy (366 million tons), France (332 million tons), Poland (297 million tons) and Spain (258 million tons). These six states accounted for more than 70 per cent of total EU27 CO2 emissions last year.
Eurostat estimates that from 2011 to 2012 CO2 emissions decreased in nearly all member states, except Malta, the United Kingdom (+3.9 per cent), Lithuania (+1.7% per cent) and Germany (+0.9 per cent).
The largest decreases were recorded in Belgium and Finland (both -11.8 per cent), Sweden (-10.1 per cent), Denmark (-9.4 per cent), Cyprus (-8.5 per cent), Bulgaria (-6.9 per cent), Slovakia (-6.5 per cent), the Czech Republic (-5.2 per cent), and Italy and Poland (both -5.1 per cent).
CO2 emissions are a major contributor to global warming and account for around 80% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions. They are influenced by factors such as climate conditions, economic growth, size of the population, transport and industrial activities2, while various EU energy efficiency initiatives aim to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.
CO2 emissions from energy use
|
|
in 1000 tons CO2 |
Change 2012/2011 |
||
|
2011* |
2012 estimate |
in absolute terms |
in % |
|
|
EU27 |
3 489 868 |
3 417 382 |
-72 486 |
-2.1 |
|
Belgium |
97 472 |
85 939 |
-11 533 |
-11.8 |
|
Bulgaria |
51 410 |
47 881 |
-3 529 |
-6.9 |
|
Czech Republic |
105 131 |
99 646 |
-5 485 |
-5.2 |
|
Denmark |
42 961 |
38 908 |
-4 053 |
-9.4 |
|
Germany |
721 656 |
728 065 |
6 409 |
0.9 |
|
Estonia |
18 688 |
18 590 |
-99 |
-0.5 |
|
Ireland** |
36 605 |
36 132 |
-473 |
-1.3 |
|
Greece |
90 358 |
90 189 |
-170 |
-0.2 |
|
Spain |
261 523 |
257 760 |
-3 764 |
-1.4 |
|
France |
335 009 |
332 295 |
-2 714 |
-0.8 |
|
Italy |
385 365 |
365 688 |
-19 676 |
-5.1 |
|
Cyprus |
6 919 |
6 332 |
-587 |
-8.5 |
|
Latvia |
6 563 |
6 376 |
-187 |
-2.8 |
|
Lithuania |
11 387 |
11 577 |
190 |
1.7 |
|
Luxembourg |
10 452 |
10 272 |
-180 |
-1.7 |
|
Hungary |
44 880 |
43 175 |
-1 705 |
-3.8 |
|
Malta** |
2 558 |
2 720 |
162 |
6.3 |
|
Netherlands |
162 796 |
157 115 |
-5 680 |
-3.5 |
|
Austria |
64 338 |
61 354 |
-2 984 |
-4.6 |
|
Poland |
312 645 |
296 817 |
-15 828 |
-5.1 |
|
Portugal |
46 217 |
44 388 |
-1 830 |
-4.0 |
|
Romania |
78 506 |
74 954 |
-3 552 |
-4.5 |
|
Slovenia |
15 365 |
14 979 |
-386 |
-2.5 |
|
Slovakia |
32 897 |
30 758 |
-2 140 |
-6.5 |
|
Finland |
53 248 |
46 970 |
-6 278 |
-11.8 |
|
Sweden |
41 134 |
36 974 |
-4 160 |
-10.1 |
|
United Kingdom |
453 785 |
471 530 |
17 745 |
3.9 |
Government statement
In a statement the government said that the statistics confirmed the urgent need for the country to convert to a gas energy generating system as soon as possible.
The statistics showed that there had been a lack of concrete action aimed at reducing emissions and moving towards the use of alternative and cleaner energy by the previous administration.