In the latest Eurostat report, the European Union notes slight progress in the fight against pollution and climate change.
In the second quarter of 2024, the EU recorded a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2.6 percent compared to the same period of the previous year – from 812 million tons to 790 million tons of CO2. In parallel with the decrease in emissions, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.0 percent, which reinforces the narrative that economic growth does not necessarily have to be at the expense of the environment.
The Eurostat report nevertheless provides a more detailed insight into how different sectors and economies of member countries contribute to reducing emissions. The electricity and gas supply sectors, as well as households, are responsible for the largest reduction in emissions – of 12.1 percent and 4.2 percent. Given that households also contribute to the reduction, it is clear that energy efficiency measures have an effect. Compared to the same period last year, five out of nine economic sectors reduced their emissions, while the largest increase was recorded in the water supply, sewage and air conditioning sectors, which is expected in the observed quarter.
Reductions in emissions were recorded in 19 EU member states. Of those 19 countries, 14 of them managed to increase their GDP in the same quarter, without the reduction of emissions slowing them down in their economic progress.
The Netherlands leads with a reduction in greenhouse gases – 9.1 percent, while Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary also recorded significant reductions of 6.3 percent and the last two with 5.9 percent each.
It is interesting that the five countries that registered a decrease in emissions also registered a drop in GDP, which indicates that these two measures are connected in a much more complex network of economic and environmental interactions within countries. Some of those countries are Ireland, first of all, Estonia, and then others.
Exactly 14 countries out of 27, which means about half of the countries, managed to increase their GDP while reducing emissions, which is the most interesting data because it means that such economic models are possible and feasible in practice. The countries where the GDP managed to go up, while the emissions are decreasing, are Poland, Denmark, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Portugal, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Germany.
Although there has been success in reducing emissions, this does not mean that all these countries are now fully ‘green’. Poland, for example, still remains the largest consumer of coal among EU members, but is seriously planning its transition to nuclear energy
Energy portal
Source: energetskiportal.rs
