Emissions in the power industry sector grew by 13% in 2021. However, the overall trend in Ireland for the last 15 years is downwards, with fossil emissions declining by 26% since 2005.

Global fossil CO₂ emissions increased by 5.3% in 2021 compared to 2020, almost reaching pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to the report. In the EU, total fossil CO₂ emissions increased by 6.5% in 2021. However, this increase is just about half of the reduction that took place between 2019 and 2020 (-10.8%). Consequently, the EU27 emissions fell by 5% between 2021 and 2019, continuing a downward trend.

Looking further back, the EU has achieved the largest relative decrease in greenhouse gas emissions among the top emitters. EU27 fossil CO₂ emissions in 2021 were 27.3% lower than in 1990 and its share of global emissions also decreased from 16.8% in 1990 to 7.3% in 2021.

The JRC’s Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) includes data from 1970 until 2021. It complements national inventories and reporting prepared by Parties to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and can provide information on collective emissions trends for all countries as required for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).