IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i13p3792-d581201.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Iwona Bąk & Anna Barwińska-Małajowicz & Grażyna Wolska & Paweł Walawender & Paweł Hydzik, 2021. "Is the European Union Making Progress on Energy Decarbonisation While Moving towards Sustainable Development?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:13:p:3792-:d:581201
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/13/3792/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/13/3792/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oliver Geden & Glen P. Peters & Vivian Scott, 2019. "Targeting carbon dioxide removal in the European Union," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 487-494, April.
    2. Cerin, Pontus, 2006. "Bringing economic opportunity into line with environmental influence: A discussion on the Coase theorem and the Porter and van der Linde hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 209-225, February.
    3. Christian Brodhag & Sophie Talière, 2006. "Sustainable development strategies: Tools for policy coherence," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(2), pages 136-145, May.
    4. Nordhaus, William D, 1977. "Economic Growth and Climate: The Carbon Dioxide Problem," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(1), pages 341-346, February.
    5. Yang, Christopher & Yeh, Sonia & Zakerinia, Saleh & Ramea, Kalai & McCollum, David, 2015. "Achieving California's 80% greenhouse gas reduction target in 2050: Technology, policy and scenario analysis using CA-TIMES energy economic systems model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 118-130.
    6. ., 2017. "A positive theory of political economy with applications," Chapters, in: A General Theory of Economic Development, chapter 8, pages 151-174, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Trudie Strauss & Michael Johan von Maltitz, 2017. "Generalising Ward’s Method for Use with Manhattan Distances," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Paul Tobin, 2017. "Leaders and Laggards: Climate Policy Ambition in Developed States," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(4), pages 28-47, November.
    9. Michal Kurtyka, 2019. "Can States Be Turned into Automotive Innovation Hubs?," Book, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, edition 1, volume 1, number y:2019:v:1:ch:10:p:198-21 edited by Justin Yifu Lin & Alojzy Z. Nowak, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Artur Czech & Jerzy Lewczuk & Leonas Ustinovichius & Robertas Kontrimovičius, 2022. "Multi-Criteria Assessment of Transport Sustainability in Chosen European Union Countries: A Dynamic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Iwona Bąk & Małgorzata Tarczyńska-Łuniewska & Anna Barwińska-Małajowicz & Paweł Hydzik & Dariusz Kusz, 2022. "Is Energy Use in the EU Countries Moving toward Sustainable Development?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-26, August.
    3. Norman Hendrik Riedel & Miroslav Špaček, 2022. "Challenges of Renewable Energy Sourcing in the Process Industries: The Example of the German Chemical Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Anna Barwińska-Małajowicz & Radosław Pyrek & Krzysztof Szczotka & Jakub Szymiczek & Teresa Piecuch, 2023. "Improving the Energy Efficiency of Public Utility Buildings in Poland through Thermomodernization and Renewable Energy Sources—A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Maria Gouveia & Carla Henriques & Ana Amaro, 2022. "Is the Cohesion Policy Efficient in Supporting the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy? Some Insights with Value-Based Data Envelopment Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    6. Artur Czech & Katarzyna Gralak & Marzena Kacprzak & Agnieszka Król, 2021. "Quantitative Analysis of Sustainable Transport Development as a Support Tool for Transport System Management: Spatial Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katarzyna Cheba & Iwona Bąk, 2021. "Environmental Production Efficiency in the European Union Countries as a Tool for the Implementation of Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Saujot, Mathieu & Lefèvre, Benoit, 2016. "The next generation of urban MACCs. Reassessing the cost-effectiveness of urban mitigation options by integrating a systemic approach and social costs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 124-138.
    3. Jonathan Colmer & Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muûls & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2020. "Does pricing carbon mitigate climate change? Firm-level evidence from the European Union emissions trading scheme," CEP Discussion Papers dp1728, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Bhardwaj, Chandan & Axsen, Jonn & Kern, Florian & McCollum, David, 2020. "Why have multiple climate policies for light-duty vehicles? Policy mix rationales, interactions and research gaps," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 309-326.
    5. C. Seri & A. de Juan Fernandez, 2021. "The relationship between economic growth and environment. Testing the EKC hypothesis for Latin American countries," Papers 2105.11405, arXiv.org.
    6. Wakiyama, Takako & Zusman, Eric, 2021. "The impact of electricity market reform and subnational climate policy on carbon dioxide emissions across the United States: A path analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    7. Timothy Fraser & Lily Cunningham & Amos Nasongo, 2021. "Build Back Better? Effects of Crisis on Climate Change Adaptation Through Solar Power in Japan and the United States," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 21(1), pages 54-75, Winter.
    8. Joseph E. Aldy & Robert N. Stavins, 2021. "Rolling The Dice In The Corridors Of Power: William Nordhaus’S Impacts On Climate Change Policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Robert Mendelsohn (ed.), CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMICS Commemoration of Nobel Prize for William Nordhaus, chapter 1, pages 1-18, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Laurent JODOIN, 2020. "Nordhaus on philosophy in climate change economics," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 13(2), pages 81-90, November.
    10. Tattini, Jacopo & Ramea, Kalai & Gargiulo, Maurizio & Yang, Christopher & Mulholland, Eamonn & Yeh, Sonia & Karlsson, Kenneth, 2018. "Improving the representation of modal choice into bottom-up optimization energy system models – The MoCho-TIMES model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 265-282.
    11. Ruffini, Eleonora & Wei, Max, 2018. "Future costs of fuel cell electric vehicles in California using a learning rate approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 329-341.
    12. Foley, Duncan K. & Rezai, Armon & Taylor, Lance, 2013. "The social cost of carbon emissions: Seven propositions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 90-97.
    13. Svante Janson, 2021. "Tensor norms on ordered normed spaces, polarization constants, and exchangeable distributions," Mathematische Nachrichten, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 294(8), pages 1484-1522, August.
    14. Blanco, Herib & Gómez Vilchez, Jonatan J. & Nijs, Wouter & Thiel, Christian & Faaij, André, 2019. "Soft-linking of a behavioral model for transport with energy system cost optimization applied to hydrogen in EU," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    15. Nordhaus, William, 2013. "Integrated Economic and Climate Modeling," Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, in: Peter B. Dixon & Dale Jorgenson (ed.), Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 1069-1131, Elsevier.
    16. Carnis Laurent, 2014. "The Political Economy of Lighthouses: Some Further Considerations," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 143-165, December.
    17. Izabela Horzela & Sławomir Gromadzki & Jarosław Gryz & Tomasz Kownacki & Aneta Nowakowska-Krystman & Marzena Piotrowska-Trybull & Radosław Wisniewski, 2021. "Energy Portfolio of the Eastern Poland Macroregion in the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-28, December.
    18. Sofia Lundberg & Per-Olov Marklund & Elon Strömbäck, 2016. "Is Environmental Policy by Public Procurement Effective?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 44(4), pages 478-499, July.
    19. Torres-Brito, David Israel & Cruz-Aké, Salvador & Venegas-Martínez, Francisco, 2023. "Impacto de los contaminantes por gases de efecto invernadero en el crecimiento económico en 86 países (1990-2019): Sobre la curva inversa de Kuznets [Impact of the Effect of Greenhouse Gas Pollutan," MPRA Paper 119031, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Weber, Thomas A. & Neuhoff, Karsten, 2010. "Carbon markets and technological innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 115-132, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:13:p:3792-:d:581201. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.