Total EU carbon emissions rise 1.8 per cent last year: Eurostat

Carbon emissions from burning oil, coal and gas rose in most European Union countries in 2017, data showed today, in a sign the bloc was struggling to reduce greenhouse gas blamed for climate change.

The Eurostat statistics office said carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.8 per cent across the 28-nation bloc last year over 2016, with the highest increases in Malta at 12.8 per cent and then Estonia at 11.3 per cent.

A total of seven countries registered decreases, with Finland having the sharpest drop at minus 5.9 per cent.

It was followed by Denmark at minus 5.8 per cent, Britain at minus 3.2 per cent and Ireland at minus 2.9 per cent. Germany, the bloc's largest economy, saw a slight decrease of minus two per cent.

Carbon emissions, a major factor behind global warming, account for around 80 per cent of all EU greenhouse gas emissions, Eurostat said.

"They are influenced by factors such as climate conditions, economic growth, size of the population, transport and industrial activities," it said, adding factors change yearly.

For example, in southern Europe, where there was a strong drought in 2017, coal burning often replaced hydropower.

The EU has vowed to lead the way in saving the Paris climate agreement since the United States, the world's second biggest polluter after China, withdrew last year.

The pact aims to keep the worldwide rise in temperatures "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial times.

The EU has pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.