Nicosia: With a growth rate of 3%, Cyprus increased its greenhouse gas emissions by 8.3% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same quarter of 2024, ranking third among the countries with the largest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, after Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the EU economy’s greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 900 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq) in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 3.4% increase compared to the same period in 2024, which recorded 871 million tonnes of CO2-eq. During this time, the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1.2% compared to the first quarter of 2024.
Eurostat reported that the sectors responsible for the most significant year-on-year increases in emissions were electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply (13.6%), followed by households (5.6%). Conversely, sectors such as manufacturing, transportation and storage, and agriculture, forestry, and fishing saw reductions in their emissions, with decreases of 0.2%, 2.9%, and 1.4% respectively.
In the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, 20 EU countries experienced increases in greenhouse gas emissions, whereas the remaining 7 countries reported decreases. Besides Cyprus, countries like Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Greece saw emissions rise by more than 5%.
Conversely, the largest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions were noted in Malta (-6.2%), Finland (-4.4%), and Denmark (-4.3%). Among the 7 EU countries that reduced emissions, three recorded a decline in GDP: Estonia, Latvia, and Luxembourg. The other four countries, Denmark, Finland, Malta, and Sweden, managed to decrease emissions while experiencing GDP growth.