EU greenhouse gas emissions continue to decline
New European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates indicate that EU greenhouse gas emissions decreased in 2008 for the fourth consecutive year. Compared to the 2007 official emissions published earlier this year the annual reduction is estimated to be about 1.3 % for the EU-15 and 1.5 % for the EU-27. Based on these estimates the greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 stand approximately 6.2 % below the Kyoto base-year emissions for the EU-15 and 10.7 % below the 1990 level for the EU-27. The vast majority of the decline in emissions in 2008 was due to lower carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the energy industry and transport sectors. The 2008 emission reductions reflect the effects of the global economic recession which began in 2008 which resulted in reduced industrial output and reduced energy consumption by industry and correspondingly reduced freight transport. The reductions are also apparent in the verified emissions from EU ETS for 2008 where total EU-27 emissions decreased by 3.9 % between 2007 and 2008.The official 2008 greenhouse gas emissions for the EU will be available in June 2010 when the EEA publishes the EU Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990�2008 and Inventory Report 2010 to be submitted to the UNFCCC.