Quarterly analysis of greenhouse gas emissions
The quarterly estimate of emissions into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases aims to verify the dissociation between economic activity and pressure on the natural environment. Decoupling occurs when, during a specific period, growth rate of environmental pressure (for example, greenhouse gas emissions) is lower than that of economic activity (for example, GDP) that produces it.
In the second quarter of 2018 the trend estimate of greenhouse gas emissions expects a slight increase compared to the previous year, equal to 0.2% against higher GDP growth (1.1%). Therefore, the decoupling between the trend in emissions and the trend of the economic index is confirmed, but of modest amount. The increase reported is mainly due to the transport sectors (1.3%), for a higher consumption of diesel fuel for road transport (2.8%) and heating (3.1%). Energy production, on the other hand, recorded a reduction (-2.1%) due mainly to the replacement of coal with natural gas.