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