Greenhouse gas emissions by the United Kingdom

There has been a reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continue to drive global warming

Global warming

Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

and ocean acidification

Ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH and increase in acidity of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere....

. Under the Kyoto protocol

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...

the UK Government committed to reducing the levels of and five other greenhouse gases by 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012. These commitments have been surpassed and new targets set.

Current targets

The Climate Change Act 2008 set the country's emission reduction targets. The "legally binding" targets are a reduction of at least 34% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and at least 80% by 2050 (against the 1990 baseline).

It also mandates interim, 5-year budgets. The first three are as follows:

Budget 1 (2008–12): Total cap of 3018 million tonnes CO₂ equivalent (22% below 1990 baseline)

Budget 2 (2013–17): 2782 MtCO2e (28% below baseline)

Budget 3 (2018–22): 2544 MtCO2e (34% below baseline)

The European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

has its own emissions target, to which the UK contributes. This currently stands at 20% by 2020 though this may be raised to 30%. This target helps to direct the European Union Emission Trading Scheme

European Union Emission Trading Scheme

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme also known as the European Union Emissions Trading System, was the first large emissions trading scheme in the world. It was launched in 2005 to combat climate change and is a major pillar of EU climate policy...

Criticism of targets

A report by the University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

Environment Institute (commissioned by Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

for Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...

Great Global Warming Swindle programme) suggested that current government policies would achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases of between 12 and 17% by 2020, compared to an implied target of up to 30%. The report states that the over-riding block to achieving 30% is that nearly all the government's targets are voluntary.

Such targets have also been criticised for ignoring the emissions embodied in imports, thereby attributing them to other - often developing - countries such as China. One report showed that Britain's imports are responsible for more overseas emissions than those of any other European country, and should add an extra 4.3 tonnes to the average 9.7 per capita.

Past performance

The figures below are the annual figures for carbon dioxide emissions since 1990. They exclude carbon emissions from international aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

and international shipping

Shipping

Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...

, which together rose by 74.2% from 22.65 to 39.45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide between 1990 and 2004. Reductions in methane emissions are largely due to a decline in the country's coal industry and to improved landfilling technologies.

UK greenhouse gas emissions (million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent
Carbon dioxide equivalent
Carbon dioxide equivalent and Equivalent carbon dioxide are two related but distinct measures for describing how much global warming a given type and amount of greenhouse gas may cause, using the functionally equivalent amount or concentration of carbon dioxide as the reference.- Global warming...

)
	(Domestic target)**							(UK)	(Kyoto target)***

Year	Net CO₂ Carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...	Change*	CH₄ Methane Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...	N₂O Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...	HFCs	PFCs	SF₆	Total	Total	Change*
1990	592.1	0.0%	103.4	63.6	11.4	0.4	1.0	771.9	770.3	0.0%
1991	598.9	1.1%	102.6	63.5	11.9	1.2	1.1	779.2	776.6	0.2%
1992	581.9	-1.7%	101.1	57.3	12.3	0.6	1.1	754.3	752.4	-2.9%
1993	567.0	-4.2%	98.0	52.8	13.0	0.5	1.2	732.5	731.7	-5.6%
1994	559.2	-5.6%	91.0	54.1	14.0	0.5	1.2	720.0	719.3	-7.2%
1995	549.6	-7.2%	90.1	52.8	15.5	0.5	1.2	709.7	709.0	-8.5%
1996	571.3	-3.5%	87.7	53.2	16.7	0.5	1.3	730.7	730.1	-5.8%
1997	548.4	-7.4%	82.8	54.6	19.2	0.4	1.2	706.6	706.4	-8.9%
1998	550.1	-7.1%	78.2	54.3	17.3	0.4	1.3	701.6	701.9	-9.5%
1999	540.8	-8.7%	72.9	44.0	10.9	0.4	1.4	670.4	670.9	-13.4%
2000	548.8	-7.3%	68.4	43.5	9.1	0.5	1.8	672.1	672.8	-13.2%
2001	559.6	-5.5%	62.4	41.4	9.7	0.4	1.4	674.9	675.9	-12.8%
2002	543.2	-8.3%	59.4	39.9	9.9	0.3	1.5	654.2	655.8	-15.4%
2003	555.1	-6.3%	53.4	39.6	10.2	0.3	1.3	659.9	661.5	-14.7%
2004	554.6	-6.3%	51.6	40.4	8.9	0.3	1.1	656.9	659.3	-15.0%
2005	554.2	-6.4%	49.3	39.6	9.2	0.4	1.1	653.8	656.2	-15.3%
Change percentages are the figures originally published. All other figures are revised annually as improvements are made to the calculation methods, so the percentages shown do not necessarily align with the rest of the data. Domestic target is based on CO₂ only. Baseline 592.1 *Kyoto target is based on all greenhouse gases. Baseline is 775.2. Kyoto total differs from the sum of the columns due to differences in definitions used, and the inclusion of emissions from UK Overseas Territories. Note: Figures shown do not include any adjustment for the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme European Union Emission Trading Scheme The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme also known as the European Union Emissions Trading System, was the first large emissions trading scheme in the world. It was launched in 2005 to combat climate change and is a major pillar of EU climate policy... . Source: DEFRA, published 2007-01-31*

UK greenhouse gas emissions (million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent
Carbon dioxide equivalent
Carbon dioxide equivalent and Equivalent carbon dioxide are two related but distinct measures for describing how much global warming a given type and amount of greenhouse gas may cause, using the functionally equivalent amount or concentration of carbon dioxide as the reference.- Global warming...

)
	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Net emissions (emissions minus removals)	592.8	600.2	582.9	567.9	561.8	553.1	575.3	551.5	553.6	543.1	551.2	562.6	545.0	556.7	556.3	553.9	551.4	543.6	532.8
Methane (CH₄)	104.4	103.6	102.1	99.1	92.1	91.2	88.8	83.5	79.2	74.0	69.5	63.4	60.4	54.4	52.7	51.5	50.5	49.3	48.7
Nitrous Oxide (N₂O)	65.1	65.0	58.5	53.8	54.9	53.5	53.4	54.5	53.9	43.3	42.3	39.8	38.1	37.5	38.0	36.9	35.2	34.7	33.9
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC)	11.4	11.9	12.3	13.1	14.1	15.5	16.7	19.0	16.8	10.0	8.7	9.3	9.8	10.5	9.6	10.4	10.8	11.0	11.2
Perfluorocarbons (PFC)	1.4	1.2	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2
Sulfur hexafluoride Sulfur hexafluoride Sulfur hexafluoride is an inorganic, colorless, odorless, and non-flammable greenhouse gas. has an octahedral geometry, consisting of six fluorine atoms attached to a central sulfur atom. It is a hypervalent molecule. Typical for a nonpolar gas, it is poorly soluble in water but soluble in... (SF₆)	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.8	1.4	1.5	1.3	1.1	1.1	0.9	0.8	0.7
Kyoto greenhouse gas basket	773.8	780.8	756.0	735.1	724.2	714.1	735.1	709.6	705.0	672.2	674.1	677.4	655.8	661.2	659.3	655.2	650.0	640.5	628.3

Notes:

1. Figures for each individual gas include the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF). These emissions cover the UK and Crown Dependencies, but exclude emissions from UK Overseas Territories.

2. Kyoto basket total differs slightly from sum of individual pollutants above as the basket uses a narrower definition for the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry sector (LULUCF). This includes emissions from the UK, Crown Dependencies and UK Overseas Territories.

3. Kyoto base year consists of emissions of , CH₄ and N₂O in 1990, and of HFCs, PFCs and SF₆ in 1995. Includes an allowance for net emissions from LULUCF in 1990.

4. The entire time series is revised each year to take account of methodological improvements in the UK emissions inventory.

5. Emissions are presented as carbon dioxide equivalent in line with international reporting and carbon trading. To convert Carbon dioxide into carbon equivalents, divide figures by 44/12.

6. Figures shown do not include any adjustment for the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS), which was introduced in 2005.

Current targets

Criticism of targets

Past performance

See also