EEA report trends and projections on Europe’s climate and energy targets

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has reported on the progress made by the 27 EU member states and the UK towards Europe’s climate and energy targets. The analysis is based on data on greenhouse gas emissions and energy up to 2019, and complemented by the EEA’s own preliminary estimates for missing data.

In 2019, greenhouse gas emissions among EU member states decreased by almost 4%. This one-year drop was unprecedented over the last decade, and occurred before the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1990, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU have been steadily declining, with emissions falling to 24% below 1990 levels in 2019.  However, preliminary estimates point towards 12 EU countries having emission levels greater than their annual targets, those being Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Poland.

Source: EEA, 30 November 2020