Malta sees EU’s steepest greenhouse gas emission rises

2012 emissions increase four times the EU average

Malta saw the steepest rise in greenhouse gas emissions in 2012, according to estimates released by the European Environment Agency this week. The increase in Malta’s emissions was, in fact, over four times higher the EU average.

At a four per cent increase between 2011 and 2012, Malta’s rise in greenhouse gas emissions was double that of the EU’s second-highest climber – Lithuania (two per cent). Malta’s steep increase stands against a background in which emissions dropped by an overall 0.9 per cent across the EU28.

According to the EEA, Maltese emissions – as well as those of Ireland, the UK and Greece – increased “quite substantially”.

Even more outstanding is the incredible increase in Malta’s greenhouse gas emissions during the 22-year stretch between 1990 and 2012, when Maltese emissions grew by a staggering 56.5 per cent – a feat only closely matched by fellow island Cyprus (40.3 per cent).

In fact, over the time span, EU28- wide emissions had actually decreased by 19 per cent. In addition to Malta and Cyprus, the only EU members to have increased their greenhouse gas emissions over the period were Ireland (4.5 per cent), Portugal (14.5 per cent), Greece (11.3 per cent), Slovenia (3.3 per cent), Austria (2.8 per cent) and Spain (22.8 per cent).

Delving into the contributing factors behind the increases in these countries, the EEA notes that winter in Europe was generally colder in 2012 than it had been in 2011, which led to higher heating demand and higher emissions from the residential and commercial sectors.

In particular in Malta, Spain, France and Por- tugal, colder days increased by 20 per cent or more. For the northern and Baltic member states the winter was about 10 to 12 per cent colder than the previous year.

But despite these increases, on a per capita level, Malta’s emission per capita, at 7.5 tCO2, was actually below the EU average of 8.9. The highest emissions per capita were registered in wealthy Luxemburg (22.3), followed by Estonia (15.7), Ireland (12.6), the Czech Republic (12.2) and The Netherlands (1.7). The best performers were Latvia (5.5), Romania (5.6), Sweden (6.2) and Hungary (6.4).