Portugal is the third EU country with fewer gee emissions
Portugal is the third European Union (EU) country with fewer greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), according to a statistical portrait published Thursday. However, the country has high levels of fine particle emissions.
According to data released by Pordata – the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation database – to mark World Environment Day, the ‘per capita’ value of GHG emissions reached the five tons of CO2 by 2023.
Portugal was the third country with fewer greenhouse gas emissions, behind only Malta (with 4.1 tons) and Sweden (4.2 tons).
The pordata report also highlights the “significant reduction”, for almost half, from the emissions of the car registered in 169 kg per kilometer by 2000 to 90g per kilometer by 2023.
The trend is common in most 27 EU Member States, with Portugal in 6th place, behind Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Despite the positive evolution regarding greenhouse gas emissions, the report points to high levels of fine particle emissions by industry. In 2022, the year referred to in the latest data, Portugal issued 2.24 grams of thin particles for each euro of richness generated by industry. The main responsible are the chemical and paper industries.
« The total thin particles issued to the atmosphere cannot be compensated for the richness generated by industry, » says the report. Regarding this indicator, Portugal appears at the bottom of the list, with values almost 100 times higher than Germany, which appears fourth.
Also due to the negative, the pordata refers to the increase in urban waste, which has doubled since 1995, having been accounted for 5.6 million tons in 2023, an average of 1.4 kilos per inhabitant.
