(Reuters) – Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union (EU) rose in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, but did not reach pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, a the bloc’s Statistical Office reported on Tuesday.
Greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 1.029 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, an increase of 6% over one year, but lower than the 1.035 million tonnes recorded in the first quarter of 2019, according to Eurostat.
Almost all EU member countries have seen rising emissions, threatening the bloc’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55% below 1990 levels by 2030.
The EU notably planned to close its coal-fired power plants in order to achieve this goal, but some countries are considering continuing to use it due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Russia – the bloc’s main supplier of hydrocarbons. – which raise fears that Moscow will stop gas supplies before winter.
(Dina Kartit report, French version Camille Raynaud, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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