Total European Union greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.5 % in 2015, according to new European Environment Agency (EEA) data published on the 1st of June. Transport was a key reason for that increase: better fuel efficiency in that sector was not enough to counter the effects of an increasing demand for transport.

The EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions increased in 2015 for the first time since 2010. Higher emissions were caused mainly by increasing road transport, both passenger and freight, and slightly colder winter conditions in Europe, compared to 2014, leading to higher demand for heating.

 

The EEA’s new reports, 'Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2015 and inventory report 2017’ and ‘Analysis of key trends and drivers in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU between 1990 and 2015’ provide an overview of the EU’s greenhouse gas emission trends.

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Road transport emissions — about 20 % of total EU greenhouse gas emissions — increased for the second year in a row in 2015, by 1.6 %.  In 2015, the EU greenhouse gas emissions increased only slightly, despite the strongest annual economic growth (+ 2.2 %) in the EU since 2007 and following a 4 % decrease in emissions in 2014. From 1990 to 2015, the EU reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 22.1 %, already surpassing its 2020 target of reducing emissions by 20%. During the same period, the EU economy grew about 50 %, which shows that long-term economic growth is possible while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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