Eurostat shows emissions across bloc dropped by 2.6%
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union (EU) fell by 2.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year – with Portugal showing the fifth-largest drop (-2.1%), Eurostat announced today.
Between April and June, the EU’s economic activity emitted a total of 790 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq), compared to 812 million tonnes of CO2-eq in the same period in 2023.
The EU’s statistical office notes that the bloc’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.0% during the same period.
The economic sectors with the biggest year-on-year reductions in CO2-eq emissions in the second quarter of the year were electricity and gas supply (-12.1%) and households (-4.2%).
Among the 27 member states, 19 reduced their GHG emissions, and five also saw a drop in GDP.
Portugal, fifth in the table with a 2.1% drop in polluting gas emissions, is one of the 14 EU countries whose GDP rose. In the second quarter of 2024, Portugal recorded a GDP variation of 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year.
The Netherlands, with a cut of 9.1%, Bulgaria (-6.3%), Austria and Hungary (-5.9% each) had the biggest year-on-year drops in GHG emissions between April and June, while Sweden (5.5%), Cyprus (4.4%) and Lithuania (4.1%) had the biggest increases in emissions, across all economic activities.
LUSA
