Mild winter reduces emissions in the building sector
Greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were 41.6 million tons, 3.5 million tons lower than in 2021. Emissions decreased significantly, especially in the building sector. This is shown by surveys conducted by the Federal Office for the Environment. The development is attributed to the mild winter.
Switzerland emitted a total of 41.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents of greenhouse gases in 2022, the Federal Office for the Environment(FOEN) announced in a press release on the Swiss Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2022, which was submitted by the FOEN to the UN Climate Change Secretariat in April. Compared to the previous year, Switzerland emitted 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents less in the reporting year. Compared to the base year 1990, emissions fell by 24 per cent.
The building sector can take credit for the lion’s share of the reduction in emissions. At 9.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, greenhouse gas emissions here were 44 percent lower than in 1990. “Due to the exceptionally mild winter, less heating oil and gas were burned to heat buildings compared to the previous year,” explains the FOEN. At the same time, its experts point out that the trend is pointing downwards despite a sharp increase in heated areas. This is due to improvements in energy efficiency and the installation of heat pumps.
At 9.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, the industrial sector was able to reduce its emissions by 27 percent compared to 1990. The transport sector produced 13.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, which corresponds to a reduction of 8 percent compared to the base year. At 8.9 million tonnes, other emissions were almost 13 percent lower than in 1990.