CO2 emissions in the EU are believed to have been cut back by 2.5% in 2013 compared to 2012.
And 2012 had already seen a fall of 1.6%.
CO2 emissions are a major contributor to global warming.
Seven countries together account for 77% of all CO2 emissions during 2013. The country with the highest emissions level was Germany, followed by the UK, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Netherlands.
Eurostat estimates that emissions fell in 22 out of the 28 EU members, with the exception of Denmark (+6.8%), Estonia (+4.4%), Portugal (+3.6%), Germany (+2%), France (+0.6%) and Poland (+0.3%).
Portugal’s emissions are small compared to more developed countries, but by no means the lowest in the Union. And it is bucking the trend by actually increasing emissions, going from 45.3 million in 2012 to 46.9 million the following year.
Countries with emissions lower than Portugal’s were estimated for Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, and Slovenia.
Emissions are influenced by factors such as weather conditions, economic growth, industrial activities and, of course, size of population.
Various EU directives aim to reduce CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases.
