FINAL EMISSION FIGURES FOR 2021 SHOW A 5% INCREASE
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK increased by 5% in 2021 when compared to the 2020 figures. This is largely due to the relaxing of travel restrictions put in place in 2020 due to Covid.
BEIS - Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced that Transport and Power are largely responsible for the increase in emissions with 10.3% and 6.4% respectively. Transport was the largest emitting sector, responsible for 26% of all GHG emissions in the UK.
Figures also show that emissions from the residential sector increased by 6.4%, while emissions from energy supply rose by 2.9% largely due to increased demand for electricity and the first increase in the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation since 2012.
These figures were released just before the announcement of the formation of the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which will replace BEIS moving forward. The announcement did include that even though the UK emitted 427 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, marking a rise in emissions from 2020. The figures also confirm that 2021 emissions were still 5.3% lower than the reported level in 2019.
More needs to be done to decarbonise high emission sectors faster thereby reducing the overall carbon emissions across the UK.
