EU emissions last year fell by 1.3% in the EU-15, which have committed to reducing their emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said.
They now stand at around 6.2% below the Kyoto base-year emissions, closer to the EU-15's collective 8% target, it said.
Lower CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the energy, industry and transport sectors accounted for most of the cuts, the EEA said. This reflects the onset of the economic recession last year, as reduced industrial output has led to lower energy consumption by industry and consequently also reduced freight transport, it stated.
Verified emissions data for sectors under the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS; see EurActiv LinksDossier) gave an indication of the trend in May, as industrial emissions across the 27-member bloc fell by 3.9% between 2007 and 2008 (EurActiv 18/05/09).
"These provisional figures are a further confirmation that the EU is well on track to reach its Kyoto target, even if one should recognise that part of the reduction in emissions is due to the economic slowdown. This trend needs to be further consolidated in the coming years," said EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.
Emissions in the entire EU-27 fell by 1.5% last year. This includes the 12 member states that did not sign up to a collective target at the time of the Kyoto Protocol's ratification. But these states have since committed to an EU-wide target of slashing CO2 emissions by 20% from 1990 levels under the climate and energy package (see EurActiv LinksDossier).
"The EU has already shown that it can successfully decouple its emissions from economic growth. The swift implementation of the EU climate and energy package should give a new impetus to this trend," Commissioner Dimas added.
He argued that this would be a "timely message to the rest of the world in the run-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December," at which the EU hopes to negotiate an ambitious successor to the Kyoto Protocol and up its emissions reduction target from 20% to 30%.
The final 2008 figures, excluding the impact of land-use changes, will be made available in June 2010. They will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to track progress made towards the Kyoto targets.
