Thread by @ONS

On #WorldEnvironmentDay, we've published our UK Environmental Accounts🌍

UK greenhouse gas emissions on a residence basis increased by 3% between 2020 and 2021, to 502 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt Co2e).

➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/enviro…

Households are the largest single contributor to UK emissions (consumer expenditure e.g. on heating and travelling), up 7% to 26% of the 2021 total 🔥🚗

The energy sector was second highest with 17% of the total.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing was by far the most emission intensive industry in 2021 🐄🌲🐟

This is largely due to the agriculture industry being the heaviest emitter of the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH4).

The UK used a total of almost 176 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of energy in 2021, with 80% coming from fossil fuels🏭

In 2021, energy from renewable sources accounted for 13% of all energy use in the UK, compared with 0.9% in 1990☀️

The UK environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) was estimated to have 398,800 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees in 2020, up 2.2% from 2019.

The rise is mainly due to increased employment in:

♻️ recycling (35.8%)
☀️ production of renewable energy (36.3%)

Output from the UK EGSS was an estimated £89.6 billion in 2020, up 1.4% from 2019.

This is because output for the production of renewable energy in 2020 increased by £4.2 billion ☀️⚡

➡️ ons.gov.uk/economy/enviro…

#WorldEnvironmentDay