Croatian Bureau of Statistics (CBS)

Unit of environmental protecting

Branimirova 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Air emissions accounts (AEA) record flows of gaseous and particulate materials emitted into the atmosphere as a result of economic activity.

AEA are a subset of environmental-economic accounts. They offer a detailed breakdown for 64 emitting economic activities (NACE), plus households, as defined in the national accounts of EU countries. They are aligned with economic statistics and GDP. These features make them suitable for integrated environmental-economic analyses and modelling – for example of 'carbon footprints' and climate-change modelling scenarios.

National Statistical Institutes (NSI) submit AEA to Eurostat through a mandatory annual data collection. The data collection includes an electronic questionnaire and this quality report.

The AEA dataset has the following dimensions:

1)           Air pollutant: Emissions to air of the following gaseous and particulate substances are collected (greenhouse gases, air pollutants):

Carbon dioxide without emissions from biomass (CO₂),

Carbon dioxide from biomass (Biomass CO₂)*,

Nitrous oxide (N₂O),

Methane (CH₄),

Perfluorocarbons (PFC_s),

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC_s),

Sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆) including nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃),

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x),

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC),

Carbon monoxide (CO),

Particulate matter < 10μm (PM₁₀),

Particulate matter < 2,5μm (PM_2.5),

Sulphur oxides (SO_x),

Ammonia (NH₃)

2)           Geopolitical entity: EU Member States, EFTA Countries, Candidate Countries etc.

3)           Economic activities: include 64 production activities (classified by NACE rev.2 A*64), and households’ consumption (3 sub-classes).

4)           Time: reference year for which air emissions are reported

5)           Unit: tonnes and thousand tonnes

The data refer to national economies as defined in the system of national accounts. Greenhouse gases and air pollutants emitted by resident units representing the national economy are covered.

Conceptually AEA belong to the international system of environmental economic accounting (SEEA-Central Framework). Furthermore, AEA is one of several physical modules of Eurostat's programme on European environmental economic accounts. It is covered by Regulation (EU) No.691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts. AEA are closely related to concepts and definitions of national accounts. Most notably, they follow the residence principle, i.e. they record emissions related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically.Further methodological guidelines are provided in various publications by Eurostat (see Eurostat website > Environment > Methodology, heading: 'Air emissions accounts').

Data refer to emissions by resident economic units in the sense of SEEA CF 2012 and National Accounts (ESA), including households.

The national economy is as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and National Accounts (ESA), i.e. all economic activities undertaken by resident units.

Republic of Croatia

The reference area is the economic territory as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and National Accounts (ESA). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory. By following this residence principle, the Air Emission Accounts record emissions from resident units' activities, regardless where they occur. This is the main conceptual difference to emission inventories for greenhouse gases (UNFCCC) and air pollutants (CLRTAP).

2008 - 2021

Not applicable because AEA are not reported as indices.

The unit of measure is tonnes or thousand tonnes.

1. CO₂ and Biomass CO₂ are reported in thousand tonnes.
2. N₂O and CH₄ are reported in tonnes.
3. F-gases (HFC, PFC and SF₆) are reported in tonnes of CO₂ equivalents. There is no NF₃ emission in Croatia.
4. SO_X is reported in tonnes of SO₂ equivalents, and NO_X is reported in tonnes of NO₂ equivalents.
5. NH₃, NMVOC, CO, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 are reported in tonnes.

The data refer to calendar years.

Air emissions accounts (AEA) are legally covered by Regulation (EU) 691/2011 on European Environmental Economic Accounts.

This Regulation establishes a common framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of European environmental economic accounts, for the purpose of setting up environmental economic accounts as satellite accounts to ESA 95, by providing methodology, common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules intended to be used for compiling environmental economic accounts.

Annex I of this Regulation defines the data to be collected, compiled, transmitted and evaluated for air emissions accounts. Those data need to be developed in a way that links emissions to economic production and consumption activities by industries and households. The direct emissions data reported under this Regulation are combined with the economic input-output tables, supply and use tables and household consumption data that are already reported to the Commission (Eurostat) as part of ESA 95 reporting.

Not applicable at national level.

Law on Official Statistics (OG 25/20)

The Ordinance on the conditions and manner of use of confidential statistical data for scientific purposes (OG 5/23)

Statistical data collected by surveys, according to the Law on Official Statistics (OG 25/20) is confidential and its purpose is restricted exclusively to statistical usage.

The results will be published in a cumulative form which prevents displaying data on individuals.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 (L 87/164) stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used TO PRODUCE of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Data are not published separately but only at the level of the Republic of Croatia.

https://podaci.dzs.hr/en/calendar-of-statistical-data-issues-and-publishing-programme/

According to the Release Date announced in the Publishing Programme and in the Calendar of Statistical Data Issues, publications of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics are released at 11:00 a.m. precisely, both in electronic format and hard copy, thus abiding by the Principle of Timeliness of the European Statistics Code of Practice, i.e. standard daily time set for the release.

The User Communication Department provides the following services to the users of statistical data:

- Answering user requests

- The Croatian Bureau of Statistics provides to users the basic information on data that can be found on the Eurostat Internet site via the Eurostat portal – the European Statistical Data Support (ESDS) EUROSTAT: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

- Use of library holdings at the library premises.

Data are disseminated annually.

12/01/2024 https://podaci.dzs.hr/hr/podaci/okolis-i-energija/okolis/

Publishing Programme: 2023

Subject Matter Area: Environment and Energy

Subject Matter Sub-area: Environment

Publishing media: PC Axis Databases

Nos. per Year: 1

Reference period: 2021

Level: Republic of Croatia

Planned date of publishing: 12/01/2024

First Release - Air Emissions Accounts, 2021 - Provisional Data 

Available on CBS website

Provisional data for 2021 will be published on the 29rd of September 2022

The data will be published in PC Axis database after validation process 

https://web.dzs.hr/PXWeb/Menu.aspx?px_db=Okolis&px_language=en

Not applicable.

The conditions under which certain users can have access to microdata are regulated by The Ordinance on the conditions and manner of use of confidential statistical data for scientific purposes (OG 5/23).

Eurostat database.

Not applicable.

The basic methodological explanations are published within the First Release and in the PC Axis database.

All relevant information are also available on the Eurostat website http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

100%

The data on quality are stored in database of quality information (DBQI), and the reports on quality are prepared on the bases of this information and will gradually be available on CBS Internet site.

The main tool for the systematic quality assessment and quality management is the database on quality information (DBQI). The DBQI has in first stage the Basic analytical tool for comparative analyses of quality indicators and later will contain Advanced analytical tool for comparative analyses of quality indicators.

Data is collected from reliable sources applying high standards regarding the methodology and ensuring a high degree of comparability.

Assessments and quality reports:

a) National descriptions of the methodology used

- the methodologies from 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National GHG Inventories, recommended by the UNFCCC, were used for emission estimations of greenhouse gases, which are result of anthropogenic activities, i.e. CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, HFCs, PFCs, SF₆. Methodology is described in National Inventory Report (NIR 2023), page 45, section 1.3., available on: https://unfccc.int/ghg-inventories-annex-i-parties/2023

- the methodology prescribed by EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebooks 2013, 2016 and 2019 as well all other relevant EMEP/EEA guidebooks were used for air pollutants emission estimations. Methodology is described in Informative Inventory Report (IIR 2022), page 43, section 1.4.2., available on: https://www.ceip.at/status-of-reporting-and-review-results/2022-submission(the description and link for IIR 2022 are provided due to the missing IIR 2023, data published on EEA website and re-published by Eurostat serve as a basis for calculation of AEA for air pollutant emissions for 2021).

b) National quality reports

- information on the quality assurance and quality control plan including verification and treatment of confidentiality issues for NIR 2023 are available on page 51, section 1.5 of Report.

- information on quality assurance and quality control procedures for IIR 2022 are available on page 49, section 1.6 and in Appendix 1 of Report (the description for IIR 2022 are provided due to the missing IIR 2023, data published on EEA website and re-published by Eurostat serve as a basis for calculation of AEA for air pollutant emissions for 2021).

Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 on European environmental accounts adopted on 6 July 2011 and amended by Regulation (EU) 538/2014 adopted on 16 April 2014 in Article 7 requires that “Member States shall provide the Commission with a report on the quality of the data transmitted. The quality criteria as referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 shall be applied.” Those quality criteria are: relevance, accuracy, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence.

The European Parliament and Council decided air emission accounts shall be provided, through Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 on European environmental accounts.

Air emissions accounts present emissions of 14 different gases originating from 64 industries and from households. Linked to input-output tables, they provide a powerful analytical tool.

These EU accounts are consistent with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Central Framework adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission as a world-level statistical standard in March 2012.

The main user of air emissions data at national level is Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

For greenhouse gas emissions estimates, Regulation on the Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policies and Mitigation Measures in the Republic of Croatia (OG 5/17) prescribe obligation and procedure for emissions monitoring, which comprise estimation and/or reporting of all anthropogenic emissions and removals.

For the pollutants, Republic of Croatia is obligated to annual report data on emissions of air pollutants covered in the LRTAP Convention, its Protocols and NEC Directive. Republic of Croatia has ratified following protocols under the LRTAP Convention: Protocol on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions in 1998 (OG-IT 17/98 and 3/99), Protocol on Heavy Metals (OG-IT 5/07 and 9/07), Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (OG-IT 5/07 and 9/07), Protocol concerning the Control of Emissions of Nitrogen Oxides or their Transboundary Fluxes (OG-IT 10/07 and 2/08), Protocol concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes (OG-IT 10/07 and 2/08) and Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone (“Gothenburg Protocol”) (OG-IT 7/08). In accordance with CLRTAP Executive Body's Decision 2002/10, on emission data reporting under the Convention and the Protocols in force, Croatia is obliged to report on air emissions in line with Emission Reporting Guidelines and methodology described in EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebooks 2013, 2016, and 2019. Specifically, the application of annual emissions under the CLRTAP consists of the preparation of NFR formats (emission reporting template, projections reporting template, gridded emissions template, LPS emissions template) and IIR report.

CBS carried out testing on customer satisfaction. A survey on the satisfaction of users was conducted in 2015. The results are available on: http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/international/Quality_Report/Quality_Report_Documents/Quality_Report_Satisfaction_Survey.pdf

The most recent survey on the satisfaction of users was conducted in 2022.

The data are sent completely and in accordance with the relevant EU regulations.

Not applicable. To ensure comparability, this will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT in the European quality report using a standardised method.

Methods used in compiling AEA are:

- for the greenhouse gas emissions estimates, source of data is National Inventory Report 2023 (NIR 2023), Croatian greenhouse gas inventory for the period 1990 – 2021.

- for the pollutants defined according to LRTAP Convention and its eight protocols, source of data is Republic of Croatia 2022 Informative Inventory Report (1990 – 2020) to LRTAP Convention (IIR 2022). The 2023 Air pollutant inventory published on EEA website and re-published by Eurostat serve as a basis for calculation of AEA for air pollutant emissions due to the missing Informative Inventory Report (IIR 2023) as a key data source. For the period up to 2020, the values from the Eurostat database are equal to the values from NFR19_1990-2020_v0 (as of February 14, 2022). For the year 2021, the values are taken from the Eurostat database due to the missing IIR 2023.

Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey.

Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The Regulation requires air emissions accounts to be provided by 30 September every year.

Croatia transmitted the data to Eurostat on 29^th September 2023, covering the years 2008 to 2021.

For the greenhouse gas emissions estimates, National Inventory Report 2023, Croatian greenhouse gas inventory for the period 1990 - 2021 and CRF tables were submitted on 15 March 2023 to European Commission and 13 April 2023 to UNFCCC.

For the air pollutants defined according to LRTAP Convention and its eight protocols, Croatian NFR reporting tables were submitted on 14 February 2022 and Informative Inventory Report (IIR 2022) was submitted on 10 March 2022 to European Commission. Due to the missing Informative Inventory Report (IIR 2023) as a key data source, data published on EEA website and re-published by Eurostat serve as a basis for calculation of AEA for air pollutant emissions for 2021. 

29^th September 2023

Not applicable.

All data are always delivered in time based on the planned date of publication.

Not applicable.

AEA are compiled according to harmonised guidelines provided by Eurostat and hence comparable across European countries reporting AEA to Eurostat.

Not applicable.

Time series from 2008 to 2021 are observed and the extent of the changes in the underlying statistical process that have occurred from one period to the next occur because new data were included or harmonization of emission factors with proposed ones in 2006 IPCC Guidelines and GB2019 were done. Explanation are provided in the AEA Questionnaire 2023.

Not applicable. To ensure comparability, this will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT in the European quality report using a standardised method.

Not applicable.

Not applicable, because AEA data are annual.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

There are no costs related to the collection of data.

The users of statistical data are informed about revision (final data, revised data) at CBS web site.

Data revisions are carried out in the case of a change in methodology or subsequent data that significantly impacts the calculation.

Not applicable. To ensure comparability, this will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT in the European quality report using a standardised method.

Manual for Air Emissions Accounts (AEA), 2015 edition and Annex I to the AEA Manual, 2015 edition (Correspondence between CRF/NFR and NACE rev. 2) were used to calculate emissions. The basis for the calculation of emissions according to the NACE activities, i.e. according to the requirements of the 2023 AEA reporting format, are data from:

-       Croatian greenhouse gas inventory for the period 1990 - 2021 (National Inventory Report 2023), Submission under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol.

-       Republic of Croatia 2022 Informative Inventory Report (1990 - 2020), Submission under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) and National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD 2016/2284/EU).

-       The 2023 Air pollutant inventory published on EEA website and re-published by Eurostat serve as a basis for calculation of AEA for air pollutant emissions due to the missing Informative Inventory Report (IIR 2023) as a key data source. For the period up to 2020, the values from the Eurostat database are equal to the values from NFR19_1990-2020_v0 (as of February 14, 2022). For the year 2021, the values are taken from the Eurostat database due to the missing IIR 2023.

-       PEFA questionnaires - Physical energy flow accounts, 2008 - 2021.

Data sources for NIR 2023 and IIR 2022 are:

Annually

Data are obtained from data sources in electronic form.

The important part of the NIR and IIR reports is the verification of the input data and results, all this with the aim to increase the quality and reliability of the calculation.

According to Article 7. of the Regulation on the Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policies and Mitigation Measures in the Republic of Croatia, within the competence of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development is the preparation of quality assurance and quality control plan regarding GHG inventory (QA/QC plan), implementation of the quality assurance procedures in accordance with the QA/QC plan and archiving activity data for emission calculation, emission factors and documents used for planning, preparing, controlling and assuring inventory quality. QA/QC plan is a part of quality assurance and quality control system (QA/QC system), stipulated by Decision 19/CMP.1 Guidelines for national systems under Article 5, paragraph 1, of the Kyoto Protocol. Implementation of QA/QC system is based on the following documents: Annual Data Collection Plan (ADCP), QA/QC Plan, Category-specific QC checklist and Improvement Plan.

Quality control (QC) activities regarding GHG and pollutants inventory include general methods such as accuracy checks on data acquisition and calculations and the use of approved standardized procedures for emission calculations, measurements, estimating uncertainties, archiving information and reporting. Higher tier of QC activities includes technical reviews of source categories, activity and emission factor data and methods.

Quality assurance(QA) activities include a planned system of review procedures conducted by personnel not directly involved in the inventory compilation/development process. Reviews, preferably by independent third parties, should be performed upon a finalized inventory following the implementation of QC procedures. Reviews verify that data quality objectives were met, ensure that the inventory represents the best possible estimates of emissions and sinks given the current state of scientific knowledge and data available, and support the effectiveness of the QC programme.

Regulation on the Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policies and Mitigation Measures in the Republic of Croatia (OG 5/17) prescribe obligation and procedure for GHG emissions monitoring, which comprise estimation and/or reporting of all anthropogenic emissions and removals. In the NIR 2023 inventory, national emissions and removals for the Republic of Croatia are presented for the period from 1990 to 2021. Monitoring of GHG gases is stipulated by Article 21 of the Act on climate change and ozone layer protection (OG 127/19). The NIR is prepared in accordance with the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual inventories as adopted by the COP by its Decision 24/CP.19. The methodologies used in the calculation of emissions are based on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC Guidelines) and the IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC Good Practice Guidance) prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As recommended by the IPCC Guidelines country-specific methods have been used where appropriate and where they provide more accurate emission data. The calculation includes the emissions which are the result of anthropogenic activities and these include the following GHGs: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), halogenated carbons (HFCs, PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆), nitrogen fluoride (NF₃) and indirect GHGs: carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and sulphur dioxide (SO₂). The GHGs covered by the Montreal Protocol on the pollutants related to ozone depletion (freons) are reported in the framework of this protocol and therefore are excluded from NIR report. GHG emission sources and sinks are divided into five main sectors: Energy, Industrial Processes and Product Use, Agriculture, Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry and Waste. Generally, the methodology for emission calculation could be described as a product of the particular activity data (e.g. fuel consumption, cement production, number of animals, increase of wood stock etc.) with corresponding emission factors. The use of specific national emission factors is recommended wherever possible and justified, whereas, on the contrary, the methodology gives typical values of emission factors for all relevant activities of the particular sectors.

In the IIR 2022 inventory, national emissions for the Republic of Croatia are presented for the period from 1990 to 2020. Due to the missing Informative Inventory Report (IIR 2023) as a key data source, data published on EEA website and re-published by Eurostat serve as a basis for calculation of AEA for air pollutant emissions for 2021. The process of IIR inventory preparation has three main phases: planning, preparation and reporting and archiving. Inventory preparation phase is a central phase in the process, which includes identification and updating of emission sources according to Nomenclature for Reporting (NFR) format, collection and processing of activity data, updating of emission factors (if necessary), emission calculation and recalculations if necessary according to EMEP/EEA methodology, filling the databases (CollectER and COPERT) and preparation of report and formats requiring for the following annual reporting requirements. Activity data needed for emissions calculation are extracted from regular publications and databases of Central Bureau of Statistics and other relevant governmental organizations and ministries. For particular sub-sectors and source categories, data that are more detailed are required then those published in official statistical reports, such as disaggregated energy balance, vehicle fleet etc.). Beside official publications, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development sends questionnaires directly to the Large Point Sources asking for activity data, which they use for emissions calculations in order to check consistency of data provided by different sources. After activity data are collected, they are distributed to NFR and SNAP sectors, sub-sectors and source categories database with corresponding update emission factors entered into central database CollectER. Croatia is using CollectER III (Version 3 of October 2010) for annual inventory preparation. The CollectER III was conducted in accordance with the recommendations TFEIP/EIONET and ETC/ACC European Environment Agency (EEA). Emissions from road transport are calculated by means of program application COPERT 5 (v3) that contains activity data on vehicle fleet and procedures for emissions calculation from road transport. For the calculation of emissions from non-road transport (NFR 1.A.2.gvii and 1.A.4.ii), agriculture (NFR 3.B and 3.D), use of pesticides (NFR 3.D.f), field burning of agricultural residues (NFR 3.F), small combustion - residential (NFR 1.A.4.b.i), Waste and the IPPU sectors, engineering-mathematical models are used. Pollutant emissions are reporting in defined NFR19 format (Excel spreadsheet), which discusses the sources of emissions of the following sectors: Energy (NFR 1); Industrial Processes and product use (NFR 2); Agriculture (NFR 3); Waste (NFR 5); and Natural sources (NFR 11). The NFR format under the CLRTAP is in full compliance with the CRF format under the UNFCCC. Emission factors not recommended in EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emission Inventory Guidebooks (GB 2013, 2016 and 2019) are mainly taken from the sectoral guidelines for determining the emission of pollutants produced in the framework of the project Reconstruction of the National Inventory System and enforcement of its implementation (LIFE/TCY/CRO/00086). The methodology used for calculation of emissions includes product of activity data (e.g. fuel consumption, the production statistics, number of animals, waste treated, etc.) and corresponding emission factor. Emission factors used are default, plant specific emission factors (calculated from direct emissions observed plants reported in Croatian EPR base) and country specific emission factors.

Not applicable.

Data on industry were allocated according to file Correspondence_matrices.xls that were adjusted to Croatian circumstances.

Data on emissions of road transport were allocated according to file Correspondence_matrices.xls.

PEFA questionnaires - Physical energy flow accounts, 2008 - 2021.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

No