Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in Europe

Assessment versions

Published (reviewed and quality assured)

• 26 Oct 2021, 12:33 PM
  - Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in Europe

Rationale

Justification for indicator selection

No rationale has been identified for this indicator.

Scientific references

• No rationale references available

Indicator definition

The indicator comprises historical and projected emissions estimates from the agriculture sector (CRF category 3), as well as historical emissions estimates from energy consumption in agriculture, forestry and fishing, expressed in million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO₂e). Historical emissions are presented at subcategory level with some aggregation (see Methodology for details), whereas projected emissions with existing measures and with additional measures are presented at aggregate level for the agriculture sector (CRF sector 3 only; excludes energy consumption).

Units

Million tonnes of CO2  equivalent (Mt CO2e) and percentage

Policy context and targets

Context description

Regulation (EU) 2018/842 lays down obligations on Member States with respect to their minimum contributions to meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction target of the Union, for the period 2021-2030. The European Climate Law enshrines the goal for Europe to become climate-neutral by 2050, and includes a target of at least a 55% reduction in net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 1990. This acknowledges the need to revise this policy instrument to deliver the additional emissions reductions for 2030, for which the Commission made a proposal in July 2021.

Targets

No targets have been specified

Related policy documents

No related policy documents have been specified

Methodology

Methodology for indicator calculation

Historical and projected emissions estimates from all EU Member States and for the EU-27 aggregate were obtained from the publicly available databases published by the EEA.

For the presentation of historical trends in emissions by subcategory, the following small emissions categories were combined into a single 'Other'; aggregate category: Rice cultivation (CRF 3C), Prescribed burning of savannahs (CRF 3E), Field burning of agricultural residues (CRF 3F), Liming (CRF 3G), Urea application (CRF 3H), Other carbon containing fertilisers (CRF 3I) and Other agricultural emissions (CRF 3J).

For simplicity, emissions arising from Enteric fermentation (CRF 3A) and Manure management (CRF 3B) were presented for all livestock types combined. In addition, where emissions of several gases occur from the same subcategory (e.g. Manure management (CRF 3B) emissions comprise both CH₄ and N₂O), these have been combined into a single CO₂e value. Direct and indirect N₂O emissions from agricultural soils are also presented as a single CO₂e figure.

The latest available version of the historical inventory and projected emissions is used to compile the indicator, but note that this may introduce small inconsistencies between the historical and projected emissions if projections for some Member States are not based on the latest inventory submission and recalculations have occurred.

References

European Court of Auditors, 2021. Common Agricultural Policy and climate: Half of EU climate spending but farm emissions are not decreasing. Special report 16. ISBN 978-92-847-6183-8. Available at: https://www.eca.europa.eu/Lists/ECADocuments/SR21_16/SR_CAP-and-Climate_EN.pdf

European Union, 2020. Farm to Fork Strategy: For a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. Action plan report. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/food/system/files/2020-05/f2f_action-plan_2020_strategy-info_en.pdf

Methodology for gap filling

No methodology for gap filling has been specified. Probably this info has been added together with indicator calculation.

Methodology references

• See references under Methodology - References

Data specifications

EEA data references

• National emissions reported to the UNFCCC and to the EU Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism provided by European Environment Agency (EEA)
• Member States' greenhouse gas (GHG) emission projections provided by European Environment Agency (EEA)

Data sources in latest figures

Uncertainties

Methodology uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified

Data sets uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified

Rationale uncertainty

No uncertainty has been specified