Archive:Enlargement countries - environment statistics

Data extracted in May 2021.

Planned article update: April 2022.

Highlights

Among the EU candidate countries and potential candidates, Montenegro was the largest generator of municipal waste relative to population size in 2019 at 530 kg per inhabitant.

Over the period 2009-2018, Kosovo* and Serbia reduced their greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse gas emissions, 2009-2018 (index 2009=100; based on CO2 equivalents)

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
Albania not available.
Montenegro and Serbia: Data supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authority.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Data supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authority. 2015-2018 not available.
North Macedonia: 2017-2018: not available.
Kosovo: Data supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authority. 2009-2016: estimates. 2017: provisional.
Source: Eurostat (online data code: env_air_gge) and Eurostat data collection.

This article is part of an online publication and provides information on a range of population statistics for the European Union (EU) enlargement countries, in other words the candidate countries and potential candidates. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Turkey currently have candidate country status, while Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Kosovo are potential candidates.

This article provides some information in relation to climate change, waste and water, presenting indicators such as the level of greenhouse gas emissions, municipal waste generated and waste treated, and water abstraction.

Full article

Greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions

The gases considered in this article as greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), methane (CH₄), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆). Figure 1 shows development in the combined emissions of these gases, measured in carbon dioxide equivalents. The basic data are annual emissions estimated and reported according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines.

A rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions was reported for Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2009 and 2011, followed by a sharp fall in 2012 and then further increases in 2013 and 2014 such that between 2009 and 2014 (the most recent data available) the overall increase was 9.6 %. The time series for Turkey reflects an almost unbroken series of annual increases in greenhouse gas emissions during the period shown with the only falls recorded in 2013 and 2015; the overall increase in emissions in Turkey between 2009 and 2018 was 32.1 %. After decreases between 2009 and 2012, the time series for Kosovo shows a series of increases from 2013 to 2016, which was followed by a fall in emissions in 2017 and stability in 2018, such that the level of emissions in 2018 was 9.6 % below the level in 2009. Serbia has recorded an overall decline of 3.2 % in greenhouse gas emissions from 2009 to 2018. The 2009 base year was a low point for Montenegro’s greenhouse gas emissions, as production had been affected by the 2008 financial crisis. This explains the subsequent increase in emissions, which in 2018 were 18.8 % higher than 2009. The time series for North Macedonia is shorter, running until 2016 and shows a rather volatile development, with a 7.6 % lower level of emissions in 2016 than in 2009.

The index for total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU reflects a regular fall in such emissions between 2009 and 2018. 2009 was a low base year, in large part related to the global financial and economic crisis and the associated reduction in levels of economic activity, which explains the rebound in 2010. Between 2015 and 2017, the level of emissions increased, followed by a decline in 2018. By 2018, the index was 7.1 % lower than it was in 2009.

Figure 1: Greenhouse gas emissions, 2009-2018
(2009 = 100; based on CO₂ equivalents)
Source: Eurostat (env_air_gge) and from annual data collection cycle – see Data Sources

Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases: while it has the lowest global warming potential of the six greenhouse gases, emissions of this gas in the EU are much higher than any of the other greenhouse gases. Even when adjusted for global warming potential, the impact of carbon dioxide emissions is far greater than the other greenhouse gases. In consequence, the developments shown in Figure 2 reflect those seen in Figure 1. Turkey, Montenegro (data to 2013) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (data to 2014) reported increases in emissions from 2009 to the latest available data, while Serbia reported a decline (data from 2010 to 2014). EU CO₂ emission in 2019 were 12.0 % below the figure ten years earlier.

Figure 2: Carbon dioxide emissions, 2009-2019
(index 2009=100, based on tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (env_ac_ainah_r2) and from annual data collection cycle – see Data Sources

Municipal waste

Municipal waste is mainly produced by households, though similar wastes from sources such as distributive trades, offices and public institutions are included in the data presented. Waste from agriculture and from industry is excluded from this indicator. Municipal waste consists of waste collected by or on behalf of municipal authorities and disposed of through the waste management system. For areas not covered by a municipal waste collection scheme, the reporting countries estimate the amount of waste generated.

Among the candidate countries and potential candidates, the quantity of municipal waste generated ranged in 2019 from 252 kilograms (kg) per inhabitant in Kosovo to 530 kg in Montenegro. The quantity of municipal waste generated per inhabitant increased from 2009 to 2019 in North Macedonia (25 %) and, only marginally, in Turkey (1 %), while it fell in Serbia (-6 %) and, marginally, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (-1 %). There was no comparable data for Kosovo, Montenegro or Albania. In 2019, the amount of municipal waste generated per inhabitant in the EU was 502 kg. This was somewhat less than the amount generated per person in 2009, at 510 kg per inhabitant.

Figure 3: Municipal waste generated, 2009 and 2019
(kilograms per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (env_wasmun)

Waste can be treated in a number of ways, with waste treatment processes categorised either as disposal, including landfill and incineration without energy recovery) or as recovery. This includes, for example, material recycling, composting and incineration with energy recovery. The data are shown in Table 1. Data is collected every two years.

In Turkey treated waste in 2018 had more than doubled from 2008. Over the same period, treated waste in North Macedonia declined by 19.1 %. From 2010 to 2018, treated waste increased by 53.8 % in Serbia. In the EU, there was an increase in waste treated by 11.3 % between 2008 and 2018.

Table 1: Waste treatment, in selected years, 2008-2018
(thousand tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (env_wastrt)

In 2019, the proportion of persons served regularly by municipal waste collection services ranged from 74 % in Bosnia and Herzegovina to 94 % in Turkey. In nearly all the candidate countries and potential candidates for which data are available, the proportion of persons from whom waste was regularly collected increased from 2009, as shown in Figure 4; Bosnia and Herzegovina was an exception as its proportion remained unchanged.

Figure 4: Persons served by municipal waste collection services, 2014 and 2019
(% share on total population)
Source: Eurostat annual data collection cycle – see Data Sources

Water and wastewater

Freshwater abstraction as a percentage of available resources, as shown in Figure 5, is based on the resources available over the long term, a minimum of 20 years. For the four candidate countries and potential candidates for which data are available, this ratio ranged from just 1.5 % in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019 to 22.2 % in Turkey in 2014. From 2014 to 2019, Serbia (to 2018), and Bosnia and Herzegovina reported increases in this ratio, whereas North Macedonia reported a decrease.

Figure 5: Freshwater abstraction, 2014 and 2019
(% share of available resources)
Source: Eurostat annual data collection cycle – see Data Sources

Source data for tables and graphs

Enlargement countries — environment: tables and figures

Data sources

Data for the candidate countries and potential candidates are collected for a wide range of indicators each year through a questionnaire that is sent by Eurostat to candidate countries or potential candidates. A network of contacts has been established for updating these questionnaires, generally within the national statistical offices, but potentially including representatives of other data-producing organisations (for example, central banks or government ministries). The statistics shown in this article are made available free-of-charge on Eurostat’s website, together with other socio-economic indicators collected as part of this initiative.

Eurostat, in close partnership with the European Environment Agency (EEA), provides environmental statistics, accounts and indicators supporting the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EU’s environmental policies, strategies and initiatives. Data on greenhouse gas emissions as reported under the United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) are collected by the EEA. Eurostat collects official statistics in relation to a broad selection of subject areas, for example, waste, water, material flows and environmental protection expenditure.

The Kyoto Protocol, an environmental agreement adopted by many of the parties to the UNFCCC in 1997 to curb global warming, covers six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), which are non-fluorinated gases, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆), which are fluorinated gases. Converting them to carbon dioxide equivalents makes it possible to compare them and to determine their individual and total contributions to global warming. A new agreement on greenhouse gas emissions was reached in Paris in late 2015; this provides the basis for emissions mitigation and adaptation from 2020 onwards.

Eurostat’s data on waste is collected from EU Member States on the basis of a Regulation on waste statistics (2150/2002/EC) and is published every two years in line with common methodological recommendations. Landfill is the deposit of waste into or onto land; it includes specially engineered landfill sites and temporary storage of over one year on permanent sites. The definition covers both landfill in internal sites, in other words, where a generator of waste is carrying out its own waste disposal at the place of generation, and in external sites.

Tables in this article use the following notation:

Value in italics	data value is forecasted, provisional or estimated and is therefore likely to change;
:	not available.

Context

In January 2014, the European Commission put forward a 2030 climate and energy framework with the aim of encouraging private investment in infrastructure and low-carbon technologies. The key targets proposed were to have 40 % less greenhouse gases in 2030 than in 1990 and for the share of renewable energy in consumption to reach at least 27 % by 2030. Alongside the proposed targets were plans to reform the emissions trading system and to consider further amendments to the energy efficiency directive. The EU’s 2050 long-term strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions was laid out in November 2018, with the aim of making Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 in response to the climate and environmental emergency. In consequence, the European Commission announced the European Green Deal in December 2019. This is an action plan in support of the 2050 long-term strategy which with a further reduction in 2030 greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels; invest in research and innovation; and preserve Europe’s natural environment. As of 2021, European Union climate legislation to implement these proposals is undergoing detailed development in the EU Council and European Parliament. This package considers the actions required across all sectors, including a reduction of 2030 greenhouse gas emissions compared with 1990 levels of at least 55 %, to be implemented through support for increased energy efficiency and renewable energy. This will enable the EU to move towards a climate-neutral economy and implement its commitments under the Paris Agreement. This process has resulted in a proposal before the European Parliament for a European Strategy for Energy System Integration. In December 2015, a global agreement was reached at the 2015 United Nations’ climate change conference in Paris; this was signed by 174 parties in New York in April 2016 and opened for ratification. The agreement sets out an action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C.

While basic principles and institutional frameworks for producing statistics are already in place, the candidate countries and potential candidates are expected to increase progressively the volume and quality of their data and to transmit these data to Eurostat in the context of the EU enlargement process. EU standards in the field of statistics require the existence of a statistical infrastructure based on principles such as professional independence, impartiality, relevance, confidentiality of individual data and easy access to official statistics; they cover methodology, classifications and standards for production.

Eurostat has the responsibility to ensure that statistical production of the candidate countries and potential candidates complies with the EU acquis in the field of statistics. To do so, Eurostat supports the national statistical offices and other producers of official statistics through a range of initiatives, such as pilot surveys, training courses, traineeships, study visits, workshops and seminars, and participation in meetings within the European Statistical System (ESS). The ultimate goal is the provision of harmonised, high-quality data that conforms to European and international standards.

Additional information on statistical cooperation with the candidate countries and potential candidates is provided here.

Notes

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.