EU’s CO2 footprint continues to decrease: in 2019, the EU emitted around 3.1 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2, less than 9% of the worldwide CO2 emissions for that year.
EU’s CO2 footprint continues to decrease: in 2019, the EU emitted around 3.1 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2, less than 9% of the worldwide CO2 emissions for that year.
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Consumption in the EU was responsible for 3.4 Gt of CO2 emissions, representing 10% of global CO2 emissions.
Using the FIGARO Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) model, Eurostat estimates the volume of CO2 emitted in the rest of the world serving the EU consumption at 0.9 Gt, while around 2.5 Gt were emitted by the EU production system for EU consumption.
On the other hand, almost 0.6 Gt CO2 were emitted by the EU economy for the production of goods that were exported to the rest of the world. This means that in 2019, the emissions embodied in imported goods and services were higher than the emissions embodied in the EU’s exports, making the EU a net importer of embodied CO2 emissions.
**Most CO2 emissions imported for EU consumption emitted in China, Russia and the United States**
Around 0.9 Gt of global CO2 emissions serving EU consumption originated from non-EU countries in 2019. China was the most important source of these CO2 emissions, representing 27% of the total emissions in the rest of the world and reflecting its role as the EU’s main trading partner for imports. Russia accounted for 0.11 Gt CO2 emissions (12%) followed by the United States (8%) and India (6%).
In absolute terms, imported emissions from these countries decreased between 2010 and 2019, except for those from India.
While American emissions will increase.