Press Release: Climate change: Commission welcomes provisional 2008 data showing further EU progress towards Kyoto targets

The European Commission welcomed the provisional figures for 2008 released on 31 August, 2009, indicating that the EU's greenhouse gas emissions fell again for the fourth year running. The European Environment Agency estimated that emissions from the EU-15 member states fell by 1.3% in 2008 compared with 2007 levels, taking them to 6.2% below their levels in the base year (1990 in most cases). This represents another significant step by the EU-15 towards meeting its Kyoto Protocol target of reducing emissions in the 2008-2012 period by 8% below the base year level. EU-27 emissions were estimated to have fallen 1.5% in 2008 to stand 13.6% lower than the base year level.

European Environment Agency: Highlights, 31.8.09: New estimates confirm the declining trend in EU greenhouse gas emissions http://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/new-estimates-confirm-the-declining-trend-in-eu-greenhouse-gas-emissions

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