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CO2 emissions
per capita, 1995-2002 |
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Air pollution
In western Europe, the amount of air pollution is naturally
biggest in the countries with the biggest population
and the largest economy. France, Germany, Italy,
Spain and the United Kingdom have the highest emissions
of air pollution, measured in absolute quantity.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions were highest in Spain
with 1 535 000 tonnes in 2000, as well as volatile
organic compounds (VOC) with 2 444 000 tonnes. As
for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and methane (CH4), Germany
had the highest absolute emissions with 1 600 000
tonnes and 2 884 900 tonnes respectively. France
contributed most to emissions of nitrous oxides (N2X)
and carbon monoxide (CO), with 248 000 tonnes and
6 726 000 tonnes respectively. Turkey also contributes
rather large quantities of air pollution, as does
Poland in the central and eastern European region.
CO2 emissions
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered the main greenhouse
gas as it is responsible for over half the enhancement
of the greenhouse effect. The United States is by
far the biggest polluter of CO2 emissions in the
ECE region. The combined CO2 emissions of the European
Union, other western Europe, central and eastern
Europe and the Russian Federation are approximately
equal to that of the United States (Table 10.3).
Canada, Luxembourg and the United States are the
only countries in the region with more than 15 tonnes
of CO2 emissions per capita, with the United States
recording the highest figure at 20.6 tonnes per capita
(Table 10.4 and country pages). The biggest source
of CO2 emissions is from electricity and heat production,
often between 30-40%, but in several countries over
50% of the total emissions. Another substantial contributor
in western Europe and North America is the transport
sector. The transport sector’s contribution
is largest in Luxembourg with close to 60 percent,
whereas it is smallest in the Netherlands and Turkey
at around 17-18 percent.
Agriculture and the environment
The possibility of cultivating land depends to a great
extent on climatic conditions. Therefore, Nordic
countries like Iceland, Canada, Norway, Finland and
Sweden have a smaller proportion of their landmass
under cultivation than for instance Denmark or Hungary.
The highest percentage of cultivated land in the
ECE region in 2000 was found in the Republic of Moldova
(65 percent), Ukraine (55), Denmark (53) and Hungary
(52). The highest percentage of irrigated land in
the ECE region, though, was in Azerbaijan, with 17
percent of the total land area being irrigated for
agriculture. Also, in 2000, the Netherlands, Albania,
Greece, Romania, Denmark, Armenia and Uzbekistan
had a relatively high proportion of irrigation, at
more than 10 percent of total land area. Iceland
stands out by far as the country who uses the most
fertilizers in relation to the cultivated land area,
3 000 tons per 1 000 hectares of cultivated land.
Most of western Europe uses fertilizers rather intensively,
as in Slovenia and Israel.
Forest resources
In 2000, the Russian Federation had by far the largest
area with forest cover in the ECE region. The Russian
Federation has more than 7 times more forest cover
than the European Union and almost double the combined
forest area of Canada and the United States. Also,
with regard to the extent of natural forest, the
Russian Federation is in a league of its own. Not
surprisingly, the Russian Federation also has the
largest average area affected by forest fires, with
an annual average between 1990 and 2000 of approximately
800 000 hectares, larger than the total forest area
of Belgium. Canada is another country with vast forests
and the highest share per capita – close to
8 ha of forest per inhabitant. Canada also has a
relatively large forest area affected by fire with
an annual average of approximately 500 000 hectares
(Table 10.7). With the extensive use of forest plantation,
the total forest area has grown between 1990 and
2000 in most countries of the region. The United
States has the highest annual average increase of
388 000 hectares of forest area. In contrast, Albania
has had a negative development in terms of forest
coverage, with an annual average loss of 8 000 hectares
of forest.
Nationally protected areas
The proportion of total land area designated as nationally
protected areas varies across the region. Liechtenstein
(38.8 percent) and Germany (31.1) have the highest
shares, but also Austria (26.4) and Monaco (25.6)
have more than one quarter of the total land as nationally
protected areas. |
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