Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the EU - The Current Situation and Significant Statistical Relations

The increase in greenhouse gas emissions has become a significant problem for the people and the environment. As a signatory party of the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement, the European Union joined the international community's efforts to achieve a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels and up to 55% by 2030 as intermediary stages towards achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Recent studies revealed that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to meet the Paris Agreement requirements will still be difficult under the current level of ambition. This paper aims to assess the progress registered by the EU member states in meeting the climate targets assumed according to the newest EU goals in the field. It also aims to identify levers that can help meet these objectives by analysing their relationships with greenhouse gas emissions. Our research looks for potential relations between the greenhouse gas emissions and the following indicators: life expectancy, gross domestic product, final energy consumption, final energy consumption in transport, utilised agricultural area and manufacturing value-added. To this end, this paper employs scatter plots to check for linearity, calculates the Pearson's r correlation coefficient for each analysed pair and tests them at a 95% confidence level to establish the statistical significance. Five statistically significant linear relationships at a 95% confidence level between the GHG emissions and the following indicators have been identified: life expectancy, gross domestic product, manufacturing value-added, utilised agricultural area and final energy consumption. Therefore, the decision-makers could take measures to address these levers to cut emissions at the desired level. The research is based on the literature and the data provided by Eurostat and the World Bank.