Published : 24 Oct 2013
- European Union Member States are showing
mixed progress towards three climate and
energy targets for 2020, even though the
EU as a whole could reduce greenhouse gases
emissions by 21% in 2020 with the set of
national measures already adopted. These
findings come from new European Environment
Agency (EEA) assessments.
We must keep building
on this success - to achieve the emissions
cuts demanded by science, Member States
must ensure that they are not making choices
today that become obstacles to a low carbon
future.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA
Executive Director
EEA's report 'Trends
and projections in Europe 2013' considers
EU progress in meeting greenhouse gas emission
reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency
targets. The European Union reduced emissions
between 11000 and 2012 by approximately
18 % - so it is already close to the target
of 20 % emissions reduction by 2020.
The EU was also on track
towards its common target for renewable
energy consumption – renewables contributed
13 % of final energy consumption in 2011,
which should increase to 20% by 2020. The
collective primary energy consumption of
the EU is expected to decrease towards the
political objective by 2020, although more
policies are needed at Member State level.
While the assessment
of Member State progress shows overall relatively
good progress towards climate and energy
targets, no single Member State is on track
towards meeting all three targets. Equally,
no Member State is underperforming in all
three areas.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA
Executive Director, said: "EEA's latest
analysis confirms that renewable energy
and energy efficiency are having a significant
effect on bringing down emissions. We must
keep building on this success - to achieve
the emissions cuts demanded by science,
Member States must ensure that they are
not making choices today that become obstacles
to a low carbon future."
First overall picture
of Kyoto Protocol period 2008-2012
Emissions fell almost
1 % in 2012, according to approximate 2012
greenhouse gas emissions data published
recently. The EEA report released today
also builds on these figures, providing
for the first time a complete picture of
emission reductions achieved under the first
commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol
(2008–2012).
The 15 Member States
with a common commitment under the Kyoto
Protocol (EU-15) are estimated to have reduced
emissions between 2008 and 2012 by 12.2
%, well beyond the 8 % target required under
the Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, almost all
European countries with an individual greenhouse
gas reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol
(26 Member States of the European Union,
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)
were on track towards their respective targets.
Two EU Member States do not have an individual
target for 2008–2012.
The EU Emissions Trading
System (EU ETS) supported many Member States
in achieving Kyoto targets. When targets
were agreed for ETS and non-ETS sectors,
some countries put more emphasis on achieving
emission reductions in economic sectors
that are not part of the ETS, such as road
transport and households. The EEA finds
that these countries need to acquire relatively
large quantities of Kyoto emission credits
to reach their individual targets. This
concerns in particular Austria, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg and Spain.
