14 DAY TRIAL // Specialists working with Eurostat, i.e. the statistical office of the European Union, have recently released a new report saying that, last year, overall carbon dioxide emissions from energy use dropped by about 2.5% when compared to 2012.
To put things into perspective, it need be said that, back in 2012, the European Union's carbon dioxide emissions resulting from energy use were documented to have dropped by just 1.6% in comparison to a 2011 baseline.
“Eurostat estimates that in 2013 carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion decreased by 2.5% in the EU28, compared with the previous year, after a fall of 1.6% in 2012,” a report on the matter at hand reads.
Otherwise put, it appears that member states have indeed been working on improving on their ecological footprint and have managed to make considerable progress as far at curbing greenhouse gas emissions goes.
According to the Eurostat reports, the countries that reported the most significant drops in carbon dioxide emissions in 2013 were, as follows: Cyprus (-14.7%), Romania (-14.6%), Spain (-12.6%), Slovenia (-12.0%), Bulgaria and Greece (both -10.2%).
On the other hand, the highest levels of CO2 emissions in absolute terms were documented in Germany (760 million tons), the United Kingdom (455 mn tons), France (346 mn tons), Italy (342 mn tons), Poland (290 mn tons), Spain (224 mn tons) and the Netherlands (162 mn tons).
All in all, carbon dioxide emissions were found to have dropped in 22 of the member states, with the exception of Denmark (+6.8%), Estonia (+4.4%), Portugal (+3.6%), Germany (+2.0%), France (+0.6%) and Poland (+0.3%).
Eurostat credits investments in technologies that harvest green energy sources and in energy efficiency for this drop in carbon dioxide emissions that member states of the European Union are to blame for.
The statistical office further explains that, according to recent studies on the issue, carbon dioxide presently accounts for about 80% of the Union's overall annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Given the fact that the presence of this compound in our planet's atmosphere fosters climate change and global warming, both of which have been shown to have a devastating impact on the natural world and human society, Eurostat urges that member states continue to take steps towards better regulating it.
“CO2 emissions are a major contributor to global warming and account for around 80% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions. They are influenced by factors such as climate conditions, economic growth, size of the population, transport, and industrial activities,” Eurostat explains.