A report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) on Wednesday (24 October), claims that most European countries are ‘individually on track towards their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol’.

As part of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) the EU-15 have agreed to reduce overall emissions by eight per cent between 2008 and 2012.

The report, ‘Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory: early estimates for 2011’, estimates the progress of the EU Member States towards their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets for ‘the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol’.

2011 estimates

The 2011 EEA estimates indicate that, after increases in emissions between 2009 and 2010, EU greenhouse gas emissions are ‘once again following a decreasing trend’, as they had before 2010.

Compared to the 2010 official emissions published earlier this year, the 2011 gas inventory report estimates that total emissions in 2011 fell by 2.5 per cent in the EU-27 and by 3.5 per cent when only the original cosignatories (EU-15) are taken into account.

It is important to note however, that these figures do not include emissions from imports or products manufactured elsewhere but consumed in Europe. Europe is currently the biggest net importer of resources in the world.

Cyprus, Belgium and Finland were found to be the countries with the largest relative decrease in emissions, with reductions of 12.8 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 8.2 per cent, respectively. Though, in absolute terms, the UK, France and Germany led the way with reductions of 35.9 million tonnes of CO2 (Mt), 24.2 Mt and 17.2 Mt, respectively.

According to the EEA, these reductions can be largely attributed to the mild winter of 2011 compared to 2010, which brought with it a lower demand for heating. However, in terms of the EU-12, it is estimated that GHG emissions increased by 1.5 per cent in the same period.

Poland saw the largest relative increase at 2.1 per cent (5 Mt) and Bulgaria saw the largest absolute growth with an increase of 6.5 Mt.

Speaking to Resource, Jacqueline McGlade, EEA Executive Director said: “The reports we published this week are important, because they show that emissions have fallen significantly over the last two decades – indeed, greenhouse gas emissions are now at the lowest level since the 1980s.

“But we can and should go a lot further. The data from recent years show us that renewable energy and other environmental policies are having a positive effect, so it is important that we build on this success.”

McGlade went on to say that the European Union as a whole is expected to “over-deliver” on its Kyoto target, but urged all member states to focus on delivering their plans over the next two months, before the first commitment period comes to an end.

Trends and projections

However, the EEA released a second report ‘Greenhouse gas emission trends and projection in Europe 2012’ which is less optimistic on future growth, and finds that a number of EU countries are struggling to meet their 2020 objectives.

According to this report, Italy has yet to formulate adequate plans to reduce GHG emissions, whereas Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Spain still need to deliver on theirs.

Current projections suggest that the EU will miss its target of a 20 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020, by one per cent. This is despite emissions currently standing 16.5 per cent below those in 1990.

It is noted that several countries (Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg and Malta) will not be able to meet their targets ‘through domestic emission reductions alone’.

Read the ‘Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory: early estimates for 2011’ and ‘Greenhouse gas emission trends and projection in Europe 2012’ reports.