Is the European Union Making Progress on Energy Decarbonisation While Moving towards Sustainable Development?

Iwona Bąk, Anna Barwińska-Małajowicz, Grażyna Wolska, Paweł Walawender and Paweł Hydzik
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Iwona Bąk: Faculty of Economics, West Pomeranian University of Technology, 71-270 Szczecin, Poland
Anna Barwińska-Małajowicz: Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Rzeszów, 36-601 Rzeszów, Poland
Grażyna Wolska: Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Paweł Walawender: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Pedagogical University of Cracow, 30-084 Kraków, Poland
Paweł Hydzik: Faculty of Management, Rzeszów University of Technology, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: Three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels for energy. To confront climate change, the world must move away from fossil fuels and decarbonise its energy systems. In the light of European Union documents, decarbonisation signifies the elimination of CO 2 emissions on account of their harmfulness to the environment. The European Union is planning that by 2030, these emissions will be 40% lower in comparison to 1990. A fundamental query arises here: do the achievements of EU countries give cause for optimism in this regard? The aim of the study is an attempt to determine the tendency of changes concerning energy decarbonisation as well as to distinguish typological groups of bodies (EU countries) with similar dynamics in the researched phenomenon. Trend functions and the distance matrices of the growth rate of the researched phenomenon were used for the dynamic classification. The conducted research confirmed that EU countries indicate spatial differentiation in terms of CO 2 emissions. It is related to the general socio-economic development of countries, their level of industrialisation, the quality of their natural environment, their degree of urbanisation, etc. The most favourable situation, in terms of the analysed phenomenon, i.e., the largest average decrease in CO 2 per capita in the analysed period, was characteristic of Ireland, Greece, and Cyprus. On the other hand, an adverse situation relating to an increase in the indicator occurred in five EU countries, specifically in Luxembourg and Lithuania.

Keywords: sustainable development; energy decarbonisation; reducing CO 2 emissions; energy policy; climate policy; socio-economic development; European Union; taxonomy; trend models; European Green Deal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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