Eurostat: Cyprus had largest per capita greenhouse gas footprint in the EU in 2022

Cyprus had the largest per capita greenhouse gas footprint in the EU in 2022, according to data released by Eurostat.

At the EU level in 2022, the greenhouse gas footprint of goods and services consumed in the EU amounted to 10.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents per capita. This indicator considers emissions generated throughout the production chains of products consumed in the EU, including emissions embedded in imported goods and services, Eurostat points out.

Among EU member states, the highest greenhouse gas footprints per capita were recorded in Cyprus (16.6 tonnes), Luxembourg (15.5 tonnes) and Ireland (14.2 tonnes).

The lowest greenhouse gas footprints per capita were recorded in Sweden (7.9 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per capita), Portugal and Romania (8.0 tonnes each).

Also, based on Eurostat data, emissions from production in the EU iteself were lower than the greenhouse gas footprint based on consumption.

In 2022, the total greenhouse gas footprint of all goods and services consumed in the EU reached 4.8 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents. At the same time, emissions generated by the production in the EU amounted to 3.6 billion tonnes.

This suggests that a large share of EU’s greenhouse gas footprint was driven by the consumption of products that were produced outside the EU according to Eurostat.

Both consumption and production-based greenhouse gas emissions decreased between 2010 and 2022, by 14% and 18%, respectively. However, in 2020, there was a sharp drop in emissions due to the pandemic.

Since 2020, the greenhouse gas emission footprint increased by 12%, while the production-based emissions increased by 4% in 2022.

Despite this increase, 2022 emissions remain lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (by -1% for the consumption emissions and -6% for production-based emissions).

(Source: CNA)