Chapter 3.png

    • CO2 emissions from transport in the EU27 – An analysis of 2008 data submitted to the UNFCCC

    This note is written as a complement to the annual submissions to the UNFCCC on the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. These submissions are compiled by the EEA on the basis of the date from the 27 EU Member States.

    Download file - form

    Please complete the this form to have access to file, once submitted the file will load on the browser window.

    We wrote this complement because of 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 (so-called ‘bunkers’). The Kyoto Protocol is to blame for this; it does not allocate the emissions from these two sectors to individual countries, and therefore EU-total figures also typically leave them out. This report includes bunker emissions, determined on the basis of fuel sales.

    All figures in this note apply to CO2 emissions in the EU27 and include emissions from international aviation and shipping, unless otherwise stated.

    • Between 1990 and 2008, transport emissions increased by 34% while emissions from other sectors decreased by 14%. Compared with 2007 transport emissions decreased by 1.6% and those of other sectors by 2.2%.
    • Consequently, the share of transport in total emissions rose further from 28 to 29%; in 1990 the share of transport was 21%;
    • Emissions from international aviation and shipping (both outside Kyoto) have risen by 110% and 56% respectively. Emissions from aviation were unchanged in 2008, those of shipping dropped by 2.1% compared with 2007;
    • 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.