Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Progress towards achieving the Kyoto and EU 2020 objectives (required under Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information at national and Union level relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC)

In 2011, total EU-28 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) and excluding emissions from international aviation were 18.3% lower compared to 1990 levels. GHG emissions continue to follow the general decreasing trend seen from 2004 onwards. Emissions in 2011 reached their lowest levels since 1990.

According to the most recent inventory data in 2011 the EU-15 and EU-28 GHG emissions decreased by 4.2% and 3.3% respectively compared to 2010. The 2011 emissions decrease was largely due to a milder winter in 2011 compared to 2010, which led to a lower demand for heating. This decline followed a small increase in 2010, partially due to the economic recovery, that came after a sharp drop in 2009 largely due to the effects of the 2008 economic crisis. Preliminary estimates show that EU-15 and EU-28 emissions further decreased by respectively 0.5% and 1.3% in 2012.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU-15 has agreed to reduce its GHG emissions by 8% by 2008–12 compared to base year levels. Based on the latest available inventory data for 2011, total GHG emissions in the EU-15 were 14.9% below base year levels (without LULUCF). The EU-15 is therefore not only on track to achieve its Kyoto target for the first commitment period from 2008-2012, but will overachieve it.

Over and above the EU-15 Kyoto target, an accumulated amount of 0.9 Gt CO2 eq. will have been saved during the first commitment period. Despite the fact that emissions were below the EU-15 Assigned Amount, EU-15 Member States and companies located in these Member States offset part of their emissions with emission reduction credits bringing the overachievement to a total of 1.6 Gt CO2 eq., almost doubling the reduction effort compared to the initial Kyoto target.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)698: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:698:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)410: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the report http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:410:FIN

---