Using official statistics to calculate greenhouse gas emissions - A statistical guide - Products Statistical Books

A statistical guide

Climate change is recognised to be one of the great challenges facing humanity, and an increasing number of countries are actively pursuing concrete actions to alleviate this problem. The Kyoto Protocol committed industrialised countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, with the EU agreeing to an 8 % decrease between 1990 and the period 2008-2012. In December 2008, EU leaders approved a comprehensive package of emission-cutting measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gases by at least 20 % by 2020 compared with 1990 levels. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, countries agreed to the principle of capping the global temperature rise to 2°C by committing to significant emission reductions. To follow-up on these agreements and objectives, detailed emissions inventories have been established in Kyoto Protocol countries, based on commonly agreed rules. Official statistics, as collected by national statistical offices, constitute an essential input to these inventories. After a short overview on the principles of emissions calculations, this publication presents a selection of official European statistics with relevance for the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions. Topics covered include land use and agriculture, energy, business (industry and services), transport and waste.