EU greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.8% year-on-year in 2013 to reach their lowest levels since 1990, according to an annual Progress Report assessing headway on climate action, issued in October by the European Commission, assisted by the European Environment Agency.
The European Commission said in a statement that these figures mean that the EU is not only well on track to reach its 2020 target, it is looks likely to overachieve it.
For the first time, the Progress Report also provided data on the use of fiscal revenues from auctioning allowances in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS). This new source of revenues for Member States amounted to EUR 3.6 billion in 2013, from which around EUR 3 billion will be used for climate and energy related purposes - significantly more than the 50% level recommended in the EU ETS Directive.
Commenting on the Progress Report, EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that the results indicated that policies are working and that the EU is delivering substantial cuts. She said that, as a result, EU leaders had decided to continue their ambitious targets and reach at least 40% by 2030.
“This will require significant investments. That's why it is encouraging that Member States have decided to use most of their current ETS revenues to invest in climate and energy and continue the transformation to a low-carbon economy," Hedegaard said.
According to the statement, these revenues complemented the funds from the EU's NER 300 programme which is devoting EUR 2.1 billion to support 39 large-scale demonstration projects for low-carbon technologies around Europe.