T&E paper highlights full picture of transport emissions

[mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]The paper is described as a complement to the European Environment Agency’s submission to the UNFCCC, but it is more of a corrective paper, tackling the continuing confusion over the contribution of the transport sector to the EU’s CO₂ emissions. This confusion arises because the EEA’s figures usually leave out emissions from international shipping and aviation – the Kyoto protocol does not allocate these emissions to individual countries, so total EU figures tend to leave them out.

Among the findings from the 2008 figures are:

• Between 1990 and 2008, transport emissions increased by 34% while emissions from other sectors decreased by 14%, a discrepancy that widened compared with the period 1990-2007.
• Consequently, the share of transport in total emissions rose further from 28 to 29%; in 1990 transport’s share was 21%;
• Emissions from international aviation and shipping have risen by 110% and 56% respectively.
• In 2008 aviation and shipping accounted for 7.0% of total CO₂ emissions, and 24% of transport emissions. In 1990, these figures were 3.8% and 18% respectively.

Download the six-page report