Europe is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, four percentage points higher than its goal, the European Environment Agency (EEA) reported on October 29. In 2013, emissions by the 28-nation European Union (EU) were already more than 19 percent below the benchmark, it said.
"If the additional measures planned by member states are fully implemented (for curbing carbon emissions) the overall reduction could reach 24 percent compared to 1990 in 2020," it said.
The bloc was also on its way to meet the target of having renewable sources account for at least 20 percent of energy needs by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, it said, and to improve energy efficiency by 20 percent from predictions based on 2005 levels. "Our analysis shows that Europe is on track towards its 2020 targets," the Copenhagen-based agency's chief, Hans Bruyninckx, said in a statement. "Even against the backdrop of economic recession in recent years, we can see that policies and measures are working and have played a key role in reaching this interim result."
At the end of 2013, the EU's greenhouse gas emissions fell by 80 million tonnes from a year earlier, a 1.8-percent drop.
Emissions in 2013 were 20.7 percent below 1990 levels, or 19.3 percent if emissions from international aviation are included. The reduction is partly explained by a warmer winter in 2013, an economic slowdown in some countries reducing energy needs, and increased use of renewable sources in some economies. There were also policies with a longer-term impact, such as the introduction of emissions targets for new car and van fleets and regulation of fluorinated gases. "If the projected level of effort is sustained by member states until 2020, the EU could actually achieve an emissions reduction greater than the projected 24 percent," the report said.
The figures do not include allowances made for forests, deemed carbon-absorbing "sinks" that help to fight the emissions problem, or purchases of emissions on the carbon market to meet national quotas. The figures for renewables and energy efficiency are based on 2012, not 2013, but the EEA said the trend in these areas was good. Renewables accounted for 14.1 percent of energy consumption in 2012 - better than the 13-percent target.
As for energy efficiency, between 2005 and 2012 the EU decreased primary energy consumption by 1.1 percent per year on average - 0.2 percentage points more than was needed to hit the 2020 target.
Bruyninckx said there was "no room for complacency," as the EU's emissions performance in 2013 lagged in the areas of transport and agriculture, and about half a dozen countries could fail to meet their individual targets for 2020 without taking additional measures. At a summit in Brussels last month, the EU agreed to cut its emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 over 1990 levels.
It also adopted targets for giving renewables at least a 27 percent share of the energy mix and a 27-percent reduction in energy consumption by 2030.
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