CO2 emissions in relation to gross domestic product and population, 1990-1999
| Emissions of CO2 as a result of the consumption of fossil fuels | ||||||
| total | change | per unit | change | per capita | change | |
| 1990-1999 | GDP1) | 1990-1999 | 1990-1999 | |||
| billion kg | % | tons/1 000 euro | % | tons/capita | % | |
| Netherlands | 167 | 7 | 0.486 | -16 | 10.6 | 1 |
| EU-15 | ||||||
| Belgium | 119 | 12 | 0.534 | -5 | 11.6 | 9 |
| Denmark | 53 | 6 | 0.439 | -13 | 10.0 | 2 |
| Germany | 822 | -15 | 0.488 | -27 | 10.0 | -18 |
| Finland | 58 | 9 | 0.547 | -7 | 11.2 | 6 |
| France | 361 | -1 | 0.301 | -14 | 6.2 | -4 |
| Greece | 82 | 19 | 0.592 | -2 | 7.8 | 14 |
| Great Britain | 535 | -6 | 0.479 | -23 | 9.0 | -10 |
| Ireland | 40 | 25 | 0.468 | -31 | 10.7 | 17 |
| Italy | 421 | 6 | 0.377 | -7 | 7.3 | 4 |
| Luxembourg | 7 | -30 | 0.444 | -58 | 16.2 | -38 |
| Austria | 61 | 7 | 0.352 | -12 | 7.5 | 2 |
| Portugal | 61 | 53 | 0.423 | 20 | 6.1 | 51 |
| Spain | 272 | 28 | 0.433 | 3 | 6.9 | 26 |
| Sweden | 48 | -2 | 0.268 | -15 | 6.7 | -8 |
| United States | 5 585 | 15 | 0.707 | -13 | 20.5 | 6 |
| Japan | 1 158 | 10 | 0.412 | -2 | 9.1 | 8 |
| Source: OECD, RIVM, Statistics Netherlands. | CBS/EDC/Oct02 | |||||
| 1) Euro value for 1999. | ||||||
CO2 emissions and GDP
Although there are major variations between the various countries in the trends for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a large number of countries have managed to stop current CO2 emissions from increasing as quickly as gross domestic product (GDP). This is generally a result of structural changes in the national economy and energy conservation.
Notes on unlinking economic growth and emissions
An unequal increase in economic growth and the emissions of CO2 indicates a policy in which attempts are being made to reform economic activities in such a way that the emissions of CO2 released during those activities (combustion or process emissions) increase less or even fall. This is known as the 'unlinking' of economic growth and emissions.
