Since the beginning of 21st century and until 2019, GHG emissions had followed an increasing trend mainly due to the increase in emissions from China and the other emerging economies. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, global emissions decreased by 3.7% in 2020 compared to 2019 levels, interrupting a more than ten-year continuously increasing trend. Nevertheless, global GHG emissions restarted to grow just after the peak of the pandemic.

The emissions of the 27 EU Countries remained below the pre-COVID-19 levels, continuing their decades-long decreasing trend. Indeed, EU27 GHG emissions were 27.0% lower than in 1990, and represented 6.7% of global emissions also showing a sharp decrease from 14.8% in 1990.

The JRC report was compiled in cooperation with the International Energy Agency (IEA). It is based on the European Commission’s Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR).