EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Dropped by Almost 2% in 2013

According to latest estimates, EU greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 fell by 1.8% compared to 2012 and reached the lowest levels since 1990.

The European Commission, assisted by the European Environment Agency, Tuesday released its annual Progress Report assessing the headway on climate action.The Progress Report also for the first time provides data on the use of fiscal revenues from auctioning allowances in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS). This new source of revenues for Member States amounted to EUR 3.6B in 2013. From this, around EUR 3 billion will be used for climate and energy related purposes - significantly more than the 50% level recommended in the EU ETS Directive.

EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said: "Delivering on 2020 climate goals shows that Europe is ready to step up its act. And better, still: it shows that the EU is delivering substantial cuts. The policies work. Therefore, the EU leaders last week decided to continue the ambition and reach at least 40% by 2030. This will require significant investments. That's why it is encouraging that Member States have decided to use most of their current ETS revenues to invest in climate and energy and continue the transformation to a low-carbon economy."

These revenues complement the funds from the EU's NER 300 program which is devoting EUR 2.1 billion to support 39 large-scale demonstration projects for low carbon technologies around Europe.

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