According to BP statistics for the year 2014, the European Union produced 10,4% of the world CO2 emissions. Germany is in turn the largest producer of CO2 emissions in Europe with its 2,2% share of the world emissions, followed by Great Britain with 1,3%.
The overall amount of the CO2 emissions does not, however, tell the whole story. Once these data are juxtaposed with the GDP, an entirely different picture presents itself. When compared with other European countries, it must be said that Germany, Great Britain and France are relatively small producers of CO2 emissions. Scandinavian states, such as Sweden and Denmark, emit even less CO2; Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic emit the biggest amounts; hence, they ought to quickly increase their GDP without increasing the current CO2 emissions.
If the CO2 emissions are juxtaposed with the population size, then it is not the East European states that top the list of the producers of CO2 emissions but the Low Countries – Holland and Belgium – whose economies are large as compared to the number of their inhabitants.
