CO2 emissions in EU drop by 2.5%

In 2013, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion decreased by 2.5 percent in the EU, compared with the previous year, Eurostat, the EU's statistical office reported Wednesday. CO2 emissions are a major contributor for around 80 percent of all EU greenhouse gas emissions. They are influenced by factors such as climate conditions, economic growth, size of the population, transport and industrial activities, it noted in a statement. In 2013, the EU member state with the highest level of CO2 emissions in absolute terms was Germany (760 million tons), followed by the United Kingdom (455 mn tons), France (346 mn tons), Italy (342 mn tons), Poland (290 mn tons), Spain (224 mn tons) and the Netherlands (162 mn tons). These seven EU Member States accounted together for 77 percent of total EU CO2 emissions in 2013. Eurostat estimates that from 2012 to 2013 CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion decreased in 22 EU Member State