The EU’s domestic transport emissions increased by 0.8% between 2018 and 2019. According to preliminary estimates, they dropped by 12.7% in 2020, because of the drastic decrease in transport activity during the Covid-19 pandemic. For comparison, in the years following the economic crisis a decade ago, emissions decreased by 1-3% per year.

National projections indicate that Member States expect a significant rebound in transport emissions after 2020. Without the implementation of additional measures, an increase could be observed until 2025, and the reduction expected thereafter would still leave transport emissions in 2030 around 10% above 1990 levels.

In 2019, UK domestic transport was responsible for emitting 122 MtCO2e (million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent). This means transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, producing 27% of the UK’s total emissions in 2019 (455 MtCO2e). This is a 1.8% reduction in emissions from 2018.