Development and Structural Changes of Carbon Footprint in EU28

Abstract

This paper examines the development of CO2 emissions in individual countries of the European Union (EU28) for the period between 2000 and 2017. Carbon footprint is monitored in four basic economic sectors of the EU28 countries—energy, other industries, agriculture, and waste management. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a structural analysis of the percentage contribution of individual sectors while determining the average conversion of emissions in tonnes per capita for individual countries, subsequently identifying the tendencies in the development of the detected rates. A cluster analysis for the EU28 that demonstrate similar carbon footprint values in the examined economic areas is conducted for the findings. The partial aim of the paper is to perform a comparison of the monitored countries and detect whether the differences between those striving for decarbonisation are diminishing. The energy industry is the most significant contributor to emission levels. The index analysis indicates that the level of emissions throughout the EU28 in all the monitored sectors has decreased, predominantly in waste management (by 40%,) which is followed by industry (17%), energy (by 16.2%), and agriculture (by 5%). The cluster analysis conducted for 2000 and 2017 has confirmed the convergence of the identified groups of the EU28. Individual clusters of the countries thus display minor differences and converge in general.