Emissions from industry, electricity and heat generators covered under the EU’s emissions trading system (EU ETS) achieved the highest yearly drop to date in 2023 – falling almost 47% below 2005 levels, the European Commission said on previous Thursday.
Emissions under the EU ETS fell by 213m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) year on year to 1.1bn tCO2e in 2023, it said in a new study.
The progress was achieved largely with a “progressive decarbonisation of electricity and heat generation, deployment of renewable energy sources and a gradual replacement of coal with gas use, as well as energy efficiency improvements”, it said.
The EC said the results showed it was “well on track” to reach the bloc’s target of 62% emissions reduction by 2030.
The ETS also generated revenues of EUR 43.6bn for climate action investments last year, of which EUR 33bn went directly to member states, it said.
EU’s emissions reductions
Overall, the EU achieved an 8% reduction – including those inside and outside the EU ETS – in 2023 compared with the previous year. This marked the “largest drop in decades” aside from 2020 during Covid-19, the report said.
The “very encouraging” reduction was largely driven by the growth in renewable energy generation, it said.
The EC said an emission reduction of 134m tCO2e equivalent per year – half of the reduction in 2023 – must be achieved on average from now until 2030.
source: Montel
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