A significant reduction in the consumption of ozone-depleting substances has been achieved by the 28 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey (EEA-33) since 1986. This reduction has been largely driven by the 1987 United Nations Environment Programme Montreal Protocol.
Upon the entry into force of the Montreal Protocol, EEA-33 consumption was approximately 420 000 ozone-depleting potential tonnes. Consumption values of around zero were reached in 2002 and have remained at this level ever since. S ince the early 1990s, th e EU has taken additional measures, in the shape of EU law, to reduce the consumption of ozone-depleting substances. In many aspects, the current EU regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer (1005/2009/EC) goes further than the Montreal Protocol and has also brought forward the phasing out of hydrochlorofluorocarbons in the EU.
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 2016. Hydrofluorocarbons account for more than 90 % of fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions. Remaining emissions are accounted for by perfluorinated greenhouse gases, i.e. perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride.
The year 2015 was the first year of declining fluorinated greenhouse emissions (3 %) in the EU in 15 years. In 2016, total fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions rose by 0.6 % due to increases in perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride, while hydrofluorocarbons decreased further by 0.1 %.
For most applications of fluorinated greenhouse gases, there is a significant time lag between the supply of these gases for industrial use and emissions: emissions mainly occur through the leakage of gases contained in products or equipment, or at the end of the product or equipment lifetime if fluorinated greenhouse gases are not fully recovered and destroyed or re-used.
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). Hydrofluorocarbons account for 80 % of present fluorinated greenhouse gas supply and are used primarily as refrigerants in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment. Other important uses of hydrofluorocarbons include as foam-blowing agents and in aerosols. Perfluorinated greenhouse gases (20 % of supply in 2016) are mainly used as protective gases in electrical equipment and as etching agents in electronics manufacture.
The supply of unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have low global warming potential approximately doubled each year from 2014 to 2017, replacing hydrofluorocarbons that have high global warming potential. Trends in the use of non-halogenated refrigerants, however, 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, since 2015, with its internal targets under the EU F-Gas Regulation and reaching the hydrofluorocarbon consumption limit, coming into effect in 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.
The annual average concentration of CO 2 , the most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas, increased to 403 and 405 parts per million (ppm) in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
The total concentration of all greenhouse gases, including cooling aerosols, reached a value of 449 ppm in CO 2 equivalents in 2016 — an increase of more than 4 ppm compared with 2015, and 33 ppm more than 10 years ago.
If the concentrations of the different greenhouse gases continue to increase at current rates, the peak concentration levels required to stay below a temperature increase of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, could be reached within the next 5-16 years. Peak concentration required to stay below a maximum 2 °C temperature increase could be reached in 17-40 years.
Given the increasing concentration levels, negative emissions may become important to increase the probability of remaining below the Paris temperature objectives.
According to preliminary estimates, EU greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.6 % in 2017, following a 0.4 % decrease in 2016.
These 2017 levels correspond to a 22 % reduction from 1990 levels, which is more than the EU reduction target of 20 % by 2020.
According to Member States’ projections reported in 2017 and 2018:
greenhouse gas emissions in the EU are expected to decrease further by 2020 to 26 % below 1990 levels with the current measures that are already in place;
a 32 % reduction of EU greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. These projected reductions fall short of the 40 % target for 2030.
Passenger transport demand in the EU-28 increased by 2.5 % between 2015 and 2016, the second largest annual growth rate since 1999.
Car passenger travel remains the dominant transport mode accounting for well over 70 % of total passenger transport.
Air transport demand continues to grow and now boasts a modal share of passenger transport of over 10 % — the largest share since 1995. Compared with 2015, air transport grew by 6 % in 2016.
Rail passenger travel is stable, accounting for 6.8 % of transport demand in 2016.
Land-based passenger transport demand also grew in non-EU EEA member countries. In 2016, it grew by 16 % in Iceland, 3.3 % in Turkey, 2.1 % in Switzerland and less than 1 % in Norway compared with 2015, .
In 2016, the main contributors to the increase in total freight transport were road and maritime freight (+5.2 % and 6.4 %, respectively). Total freight transport increased by 4.6 % compared with 2015, the largest annual increase since 2010.
The modal share of freight transported over land remained largely constant and is still dominated by road transport (76 %), followed by rail (17 %) and inland waterways (6 %).
In 2016, the transport sector contributed 27 % of total EU-28 greenhouse gas emissions. The figure decreases to 20 % if international aviation and maritime emissions are excluded.
Emissions from t ransport (including international aviation but excluding international shipping) in 2016 were 26 % above 1990 levels despite a decline between 2008 and 2013. Emissions increased by almost 3 % compared with 2015. International aviation experienced the largest percentage increase in greenhouse gas emissions over 1990 levels (+114 %), followed by international shipping (+33 %) and road transport (+22 %). EEA estimates show that emissions from transport (including aviation) further increased by 1.5 % in 2017.
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.
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