Brussels: europe and arabs

In the first quarter of 2022, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions totalled 1 029 million tonnes of CO2- equivalents (CO2-eq), a 7% and 6% increase compared with the same quarter of 2020 and 2021, but still below pre-COVID levels registered in the first quarter of 2019, when the EU economy emitted 1 035 million tonnes of CO2-eq. 

This information comes from data on quarterly estimates for greenhouse gas emissions by economic activity published by Eurostat today. 

The documented increases were largely due to the effect of the economic rebound after the sharp decrease in activity due to the COVID-19 crisis. 
In the first quarter of 2022, the economic sectors responsible for most emissions of greenhouse gases were households (24%), electricity, gas supply (21%) and manufacturing (20%), followed by agriculture (12%) and transportation and storage (10%). Greenhouse gas emissions increased in all sectors compared with the same period of 2021, except for households which remained at the same level (245 million tonnes of CO2-eq.). The highest increases were recorded in transportation and storage (+21%), mining (+15%) and construction (+11%). 
Emissions in the first quarter of 2022 increased in almost all EU Member States when compared with the same quarter of 2021, indicating a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Netherlands (-9%) and Finland (-1%) were the only Member States that registered a decrease in emissions in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the first quarter of 2021. Among the Member States with increased emissions in the same comparison period were Bulgaria (+38%), Malta (+21%) and Ireland (+20%). 
When comparing the first quarter of 2020 with the same quarter of 2019, it revealed the opposite picture: almost all EU Member States registered a reduction in emissions at the beginning of the pandemic.