Portugal was one of the 21 European Union (EU) member states that reduced polluting emissions in the first quarter of 2023, although less than the others, while managing to increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Eurostat announced today.
Figures from the EU’s statistical office show that in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period in 2022, Portugal reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 0.11%, although it is the EU country with the smallest annual decrease among those that recorded reductions.
Relating climate change to the European economy, Eurostat data shows that “of the 21 EU countries that have reduced their emissions, only six have also reduced their GDP – Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary and Poland – which means that 15 EU countries – Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, Malta, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Romania, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia and Bulgaria – have managed to reduce emissions and increase their GDP”.
In this first quarter of 2023, pollutant emissions with a weight in the economy decreased in almost the entire EU compared to the same period in 2022, except in Ireland (+9.1%), Latvia (+7.5%), Slovakia (+1.9%), Denmark (+1.7%), Sweden (+1.6%) and Finland (0.3%), with the largest greenhouse gas reductions being recorded in Bulgaria (-15.2%), Estonia (-14.7%) and Slovenia (-9.6%).
In the EU as a whole, between January and March this year, greenhouse gas emissions related to the EU economy totaled 941 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a decrease of 2.9% compared to the same quarter in 2022.
Eurostat also points out that “this decrease occurred at the same time as a 1.2% increase in EU GDP in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same quarter in 2022”.
In the first three months of the year, the economic sectors responsible for most polluting emissions were households (24%), manufacturing (20%), electricity and gas supply (19%), agriculture (13%), followed by transport and storage (10%).