A significant reduction in the consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) has been achieved by the EEA-33 countries since 1986. This reduction has largely been driven by the 1987 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Montreal Protocol.
Since the introduction of the Montreal Protocol, European consumption (EEA-28 in 1986) has fallen from approximately 343 000 ozone-depleting potential (ODP) tonnes to around zero in 2002, where it has remained ever since.
The European Union (EU) has taken additional measures to reduce the consumption of ODS by means of EU law since the early 1990s. In many aspects, the current EU regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (1005/2009/EC) goes further than the Montreal Protocol. It has also brought forward the phasing out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in the EU.
Passenger transport demand in the EU-28 increased by 2 % between 2016 and 2017 to reach a new all-time high, which was 30 % higher than in 1995.
Car passenger travel remains the dominant transport mode, accounting for just over 70 % of total passenger transport.
Air transport continues to grow and now boasts a modal share of passenger transport of 11 % — a higher share than in all previous years. Compared with 2016, air transport grew by 9 % in 2017.
Rail passenger travel is stable, accounting for 7 % of transport demand in 2017.
In 2017, the main contributors to the increase in total freight transport were road and rail freight (+4.7 % and 2.2 %, respectively). Total freight transport increased by 2.4 % compared with 2016.
The modal share of freight transported over land remained largely constant and is still dominated by road transport (73 %), followed by rail (17 %) and inland waterways (6 %).
According to preliminary estimates, EU greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2 % in 2018, following a 0.6 % increase in 2017.
These 2018 levels correspond to a 23 % reduction from 1990 levels, which is more than the EU reduction target of 20 % by 2020.
Together, Member States project that current policies and measures can deliver a 30 % reduction by 2030, while the reported additional policies and measures they intend to launch in the coming years can deliver a 36 % reduction by 2030.
While this presents a more positive outlook compared with projections from 2018, these projections fall short of the 40% target for 2030.
In 2017, 27 % of total EU-28 greenhouse gas emissions came from the transport sector (22 % if international aviation and maritime emissions are excluded). CO 2 emissions from transport increased by 2.2 % compared with 2016.
Emissions from transport (including international aviation but excluding international shipping) in 2017 were 28 % above 1990 levels, despite a decline between 2008 and 2013.
International aviation was responsible for the largest percentage increase in greenhouse gas emissions over 1990 levels (+129 %), followed by international shipping (+32 %) and road transport (+23 %). However, EEA estimates show that emissions from transport (including aviation) decreased by 0.7 % in 2018.
Emissions need to fall by around two thirds by 2050, compared with 1990 levels, in order to meet the long-term 60 % greenhouse gas emission reduction target as set out in the 2011 Transport White Paper.
The annual average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, increased to 405 and 408 parts per million (ppm) in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
The total concentration of all greenhouse gases, including cooling aerosols, reached a value of 454 ppm in CO 2 equivalents in 2017 — an increase of more than 4 ppm compared with 2016, and 37 ppm more than 10 years ago.
If the concentrations of the different greenhouse gases continue to increase at current rates, peak concentration levels required to stay below a temperature increase of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels could be reached within the next 3-13 years. Peak concentration levels required to stay below a maximum 2 °C temperature increase could be reached in 15-29 years. In both cases a 50 % probability of exceedance and no a temperature overshoot are assumed.
Given the increasing concentration levels, negative emissions may become important to increase the probability of remaining below the temperature objectives agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement on the climate.
Fluorinated greenhouse gases reported under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounted for approximately 3 % of overall greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in tonnes CO 2 equivalent, in the EU in 2017. There was a 3 % decline in fluorinated greenhouse emissions in the EU in 2015, the first time a decline had been observed in 15 years. In 2016 and 2017, total fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions decreased by a further 1 % and 2 %, respectively. Increases in SF 6 were offset by decreases in HFCs and NF 3 .
The supply of fluorinated greenhouse gases to the EU, measured in CO 2 equivalents, has been decreasing since 2010, with the exception of 2014, which saw extraordinarily high levels of hydrofluorocarbon imports prior to the EU-wide hydrofluorocarbon phase-down, coming into effect in 2015 under the EU F-gas Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 517/2014).
The supply of unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have low global warming potential (GWP) approximately doubled each year from 2014 to 2017, replacing hydrofluorocarbons that have high global warming potential. However, trends in the use of non-halogenated refrigerants, which can also substitute hydrofluorocarbons, are not covered by statistics.
The EU is on track to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons, in terms of both complying with its internal targets under the EU F-Gas Regulation since 2015, and reaching the hydrofluorocarbon consumption limit, in effect since 2019, under the Montreal Protocol.
The average carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from new passenger cars registered in the European Union (EU) in 2018 increased for the second consecutive year, reaching 120.4 grams of CO 2 per kilometre.
Despite the recent increase, new cars sold in 2018 were on average 14 % more efficient than those sold in 2010.
Average annual CO 2 emissions from new light commercial vehicles (vans) increased in 2018 for the first time since Regulation (EU) 510/2011 came in to force.
Despite the recent increase, the average van sold in 2018 was 12 % more efficient than the one sold in 2012.
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