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WEB REPORT
Sources and emissions of air pollutants in Europe is part of the
report.In the EU, emissions of air pollutants are regulated under the National Emission Reduction Commitments Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2284), the NEC Directive (EU, 2016). This is one of the legislative instruments that supports the goal of a toxic-free environment, as announced in the European Green Deal. It is particularly critical to achieving the 2030 targets related to air pollution in the zero pollution action plan.
From 2010 to 2019, Member State-specific emission ceilings were applicable for the following four pollutants: nitrogen oxides (NOX), including nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2); non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs); ammonia (NH3); and sulphur dioxide (SO2). In 2016, the scope of the NEC Directive was extended to include fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a pollutant that has a significant impact on health. From 2020 to 2029, the directive’s emission reduction commitments mirror the commitments under the revised Gothenburg Protocol for EU Member States. From 2030 onwards, more ambitious commitments will apply.
Under the NEC Directive, Member States must report annual emissions inventory information from 1990, or, in the case of PM2.5, from 2000. The most recent reported data are from 2020. The EEA produces annual briefings on the reporting status under the NEC Directive, that assess progress towards these legal obligations.
At the pan-European level, air emissions are regulated under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (the Air Convention). Under the Air Convention, the amended Gothenburg Protocol sets emission reduction commitments from 2020 onwards for NOX, NMVOCs, sulphur oxides (SOX), PM2.5 and NH3.
Parties to the Air Convention must reduce their emissions to the levels set out in the Convention Protocols to which they are parties (the Gothenburg Protocol, the Heavy Metals Protocol, the Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the previous pollutant-specific protocols), and report on their emissions. The EEA compiles an annual EU emission inventory report under the Air Convention, in cooperation with the EU Member States and the European Commission.
Air pollutants may have a natural, an anthropogenic or a mixed origin, depending on their sources or the sources of their precursors. In addition, air pollutants may be categorised as primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are emitted directly to the atmosphere, whereas secondary pollutants are formed in the atmosphere from precursor pollutants through chemical reactions and microphysical processes.
Key primary air pollutants include: particulate matter (PM), black carbon (BC), sulphur oxides (SOX), nitrogen oxides (NOX), ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), non-methane volatile organic compounds, including benzene (NMVOCs) and certain metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including benzo[a]pyrene (BaP).
Key secondary air pollutants comprise: PM, ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and several oxidised volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Key precursor gases for secondary PM are: sulphur dioxide (SO2), NOX, NH3 and VOCs.
Ground-level ozone is formed from chemical reactions in the presence of sunlight following emissions of precursor gases, mainly NOX, NMVOCs, CO and CH4. These precursors can be of either natural or anthropogenic origin.
The following key air pollutants are analysed in this chapter:
Total emissions[1] of all pollutants in the EU-27 declined in 2020, maintaining the overall downward trend observed since 2005. Figure 1 shows the trend in total emissions of the main air pollutants, indexed as a percentage of their value in the reference year 2005 and set against gross domestic product (GDP) as a percentage of the 2005 value.
From 2005 to 2020, emissions of particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micras (μm) or less (PM10) and 2.5μm or less (PM2.5) fell by 30% and 32%, respectively. Notably, ammonia (NH3) had the lowest reduction in emissions of only 8% over this period. Ammonia is an important precursor gas that contributes to the formation of secondary particulate matter. Furthermore, emissions of methane (CH4) declined by only 17%. CH4 is a potent greenhouse gas that drives climate change and is also an ozone (O3) precursor. The principal source of both NH3 and CH4 emissions is the agriculture sector.
By contrast, emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2) fell significantly from 2005 to 2020, with a decrease of 79%. This was mainly due to the reduced use of coal over the period. Major reductions were also seen for nitrogen oxides (NOX), black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), with declines of 48%, 46%, 42% and 31%, respectively.
Notes: The CH4 emissions shown are total CH4 emissions (as set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sectors 1-7), excluding those from land use, land use change and forestry (sector 5). GDP is based on chain-linked volumes (2010) in euros, to obtain a time series adjusted for price changes (inflation/deflation). BC emission data do not include data from Bulgaria for the subsector 2D3c Asphalt roofing.
Sources: EEA air pollutant emissions data viewer (2022b); EEA greenhouse gas data viewer (2022c); Eurostat gross domestic product at market prices data set (2022).
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The EEA briefing ’National Emissions reduction Commitments Directive reporting status 2022’ summarises progress towards reducing emissions of key air pollutants regulated under EU legislation at the EU and Member State levels. The biggest challenge for the period 2020-2029 will be reducing ammonia emissions: 11 Member States need to further cut emission levels. Looking forward to 2030, almost two thirds of Member States will need to reduce emissions of ammonia, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter to meet their 2030 commitments.
Figure 2 shows trends in the total emissions of heavy metals and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in the EU-27, indexed as a percentage of their value in the reference year 2005 and set against EU-27 GDP as a percentage of the 2005 value. Emissions of nickel (Ni) and arsenic (As) fell by more than 60% (64% and 62%, respectively), while mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) emissions fell by 51%, 49% and 40%, respectively. Emissions of BaP fell by only 18%.
Note: GDP is based on chain-linked volumes (2010) in euros, to obtain a time series adjusted for price changes (inflation/deflation).
Sources: EEA air pollutant emissions data viewer (2022b); Eurostat gross domestic product at market prices data set (2022).
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During the period 2005-2020, emissions showed a significant absolute decoupling from economic activity. Absolute decoupling occurs when an environmental impact variable, such as air pollutant emissions, remains stable or decreases, while GDP increases, leading to lower emissions of key air pollutants for each unit of GDP produced annually.
Both Figures 1 and 2 show that EU-27 air pollutant emissions declined between 2005 and 2020, while EU-27 GDP increased. However, because of the lockdowns implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19, and the subsequent decrease in some economic activities, GDP fell in 2020. The greatest decoupling is seen for SO2, followed by NOX, BC, CO and certain metals (Ni, As and Hg).
The decoupling of emissions from economic activity may be the result of a combination of factors, such as increased regulation and policy implementation, fuel switching, technological improvements and improvements in energy or process efficiencies. The increase in the EU’s consumption of goods produced outside the EU also plays a role in falling domestic emissions.
The economic sectors that are the upstream sources of air pollutant emissions vary by pollutant. Figure 3 depicts the contributions of the main source sectors to the emissions of key air pollutants in the EU-27 in 2020.
Note: Only sectors contributing more than 0.5% of the total emissions of each pollutant are included in the graph. The sectoral contributions are rounded to the nearest integer. Black Carbon (BC) emissions do not include data from Bulgaria for the subsector 2D3c Asphalt roofing.
Data sources:
a. EEA. National emissions reported to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention)
b. EEA. National emissions reported to the UNFCCC and to the EU Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism
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Figure 4 shows the contribution that the main source sectors made to EU-27 emissions of heavy metals and BaP in 2020.
Note: Only sectors contributing more than 0.5% of the total emissions of each pollutant are included in the graph. The sectoral contributions are rounded to the nearest integer.
Data sources: EEA. National emissions reported to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP Convention)
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[1] The data presented have been directly reported by Member States and do not include corrections that took place during the inventory review in 2022 by the European Commission on data reported for 2020. These corrections are highly unlikely to have an impact on the aggregated EU emission levels, but in some cases, they might alter national emissions levels.
The country assessments are the sole responsibility of the EEA member and cooperating countries supported by the EEA through guidance, translation and editing.
For references, please go to https://eea.europa.eu./publications/air-quality-in-europe-2022/sources-and-emissions-of-air or scan the QR code.
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