The EU remains on track to reduce its CO2 emissions

In 2018, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels combustion and processes of the EU Member States decreased by 1.9% compared to the previous year, according to the latest JRC report on the “Fossil CO2 & GHG emissions for all world countries”.

This means the EU's fossil CO2 emissions were 21.6 % below the level in 1990. This reduction is the largest among the top emitting economic areas around the world.

A decreasing trend in CO2 emissions per capita and per unit of GDP was also observed in the EU28 from 1990 onwards.

These reductions have been achieved in part due to the mitigation policies that have helped to decarbonise the energy supply as well as sectorial measures such as waste reduction and recycling programmes and waste-to-energy plants.

Global CO2 emissions continue to rise

Globally, the increase in CO2 emissions continued in 2018.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, global GHG emissions have grown steadily, mainly due to the increase in CO2 emissions from China, India and other emerging economies.

This trend continued in 2018, with global anthropogenic fossil CO2 emissions increasing by 1.9% compared to 2017 to reach a total of 37.9 Gt CO2.

The largest increases in the emissions between 2017 and 2018 were found in India (+7.2%), followed by Russia (+3.5%), the United States (+2.9%) and China (+1.5%), while Japan reduced its fossil CO2 emissions by 1.7%.

About the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR)

This report presents the results of the latest updates of the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), a unique tool developed by the JRC in support of policy impact evaluation and climate negotiations.

The recent update of the EDGAR emission data comprises CO2 emissions from 1970 up to 2018 whilst non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, namely CH4, N2O and F-gases, are quantified up to the year 2015.

EDGAR estimates are based on the latest available global statistics and state-of-the-art scientific knowledge of emission mechanisms for a wide range of human-driven activities.

Those estimates differ from the total greenhouse gas emissions that Parties report internationally to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which for instance include non-CO2 emissions.

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Report: Fossil CO2 and GHG emissions of all world countries