A2: Emissions of greenhouse gases from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases
Short Description
This indicator tracks the changes in the estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases as described in the Powering Up Britain: Net Zero Growth Plan. GHGs contribute to global climate change which is a pressure on many aspects of our environment. The indicator shows the annual net amount of GHG emissions from land use and land use change, forestry, agriculture, and waste sectors and from the use of fluorinated gases. It measures GHG emissions on a ‘territorial’ basis, which means that only emissions occurring within England’s borders are included.
Readiness and links to data
Underlying modelled data are published annually in the Greenhouse Gas Inventories 1990 to 2022. Additional information is also published annually in UK Spatial Emissions Methodology 2021 and mapping of the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory sectors to the sectors used in this indicator is available in the Net Zero Strategy: emissions taxonomy.
Notes on indicator
The data in this indicator are reflective of the current definition for GHGs from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases, they may be subject to change in future updates.
All emission estimates include the basket of 7 GHGs set out in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). The estimates use the global warming potentials from the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5 without feedback).
It is not possible to measure precisely how much of each pollutant is emitted into the atmosphere by every source. Therefore, modelling is used in the GHG Inventories to estimate the level of activity of each source and the emissions released from each type of source. All modelling has an associated level of uncertainty, and the results for each source included within this indicator have a different level of uncertainty depending on the underlying data and assumptions that contribute to the calculations. More information can be found in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 1990 to 2022: Annual Report for submission under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, in summary, the level of uncertainty in the figure reported by the inventory for total emissions of GHGs in the UK for 2022 using Monte Carlo simulation is estimated to be 2.6% and the equivalent figure for 1990 is estimated to be 5.0%.
In 2022, the total net emissions from the sectors included within this indicator accounted for approximately 15% of the total emission reported for England.
Indicator components
Figure A2: Emissions of greenhouse gases from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases in England, 1990 to 2022
Table A2: Emissions of greenhouse gases from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases in England, 1990 to 2022
| Year | Net removals by forestry sink | Agriculture | Fluorinated gases | Net emissions from land use & land use change | Waste | Net total including forestry sink |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | -7.62 | 33.88 | 14.39 | 10.01 | 59.98 | 110.64 |
| 1991 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1992 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1993 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1994 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1995 | -7.71 | 32.54 | 16.91 | 10.06 | 62.45 | 114.24 |
| 1996 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1997 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1998 | -8.01 | 33.13 | 16.19 | 9.55 | 61.20 | 112.05 |
| 1999 | -8.11 | 33.41 | 9.33 | 10.10 | 58.39 | 103.11 |
| 2000 | -8.20 | 32.12 | 7.99 | 10.13 | 55.81 | 97.85 |
| 2001 | -8.31 | 30.34 | 8.16 | 10.04 | 54.29 | 94.53 |
| 2002 | -8.43 | 30.12 | 8.42 | 9.87 | 53.32 | 93.30 |
| 2003 | -8.50 | 30.29 | 8.92 | 9.83 | 49.67 | 90.22 |
| 2004 | -8.53 | 30.89 | 7.83 | 9.39 | 45.69 | 85.26 |
| 2005 | -8.56 | 31.04 | 8.38 | 9.28 | 43.41 | 83.56 |
| 2006 | -8.52 | 30.50 | 8.90 | 9.25 | 40.72 | 80.85 |
| 2007 | -8.58 | 30.20 | 9.05 | 8.93 | 37.90 | 77.51 |
| 2008 | -8.72 | 30.33 | 9.15 | 8.58 | 33.55 | 72.89 |
| 2009 | -8.82 | 29.80 | 9.30 | 8.67 | 30.03 | 68.98 |
| 2010 | -8.94 | 29.77 | 9.98 | 8.69 | 25.58 | 65.09 |
| 2011 | -9.00 | 29.26 | 10.52 | 8.51 | 23.57 | 62.85 |
| 2012 | -8.93 | 29.52 | 10.48 | 8.51 | 22.47 | 62.06 |
| 2013 | -8.92 | 28.89 | 10.52 | 8.20 | 20.08 | 58.78 |
| 2014 | -8.96 | 29.81 | 10.00 | 8.18 | 18.22 | 57.25 |
| 2015 | -8.91 | 30.01 | 9.91 | 7.83 | 17.20 | 56.04 |
| 2016 | -8.95 | 29.53 | 9.67 | 8.30 | 16.53 | 55.07 |
| 2017 | -8.87 | 29.63 | 9.36 | 7.97 | 17.05 | 55.15 |
| 2018 | -8.82 | 29.39 | 8.83 | 7.97 | 17.11 | 54.48 |
| 2019 | -8.77 | 29.34 | 8.25 | 7.80 | 16.85 | 53.47 |
| 2020 | -8.66 | 28.38 | 7.42 | 7.70 | 15.76 | 50.61 |
| 2021 | -8.70 | 28.73 | 6.95 | 7.83 | 15.11 | 49.92 |
| 2022 | -8.59 | 28.15 | 6.42 | 7.83 | 15.18 | 48.98 |
Trend description for A2
Although there was a small initial increase in net emissions of GHGs from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases in England between 1990 and 1995, total emissions have fallen by 56% across the full time period covered by this indicator, from 111 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 1990 to 49 MtCO2e in 2022. Net GHG emissions have fallen from all sectors included within the indicator; however, the greatest reduction has been achieved in the waste sector (45 MtCO2e or 75%). While emissions from both fluorinated gases and agriculture, and net emissions from land use and land use change have fallen by 55%, 17% and 22% respectively, and net removals by the forestry sector have increased by 13%, the total net improvements in these 4 sectors combined (17 MtCO2e) is only a little over one-third of that achieved in the waste sector.
Emissions from agriculture and net removals by the forestry sector have fluctuated over the last 20 years, but overall, while emissions from the former show a small improvement, emissions from the latter show little change over the last 20 years. More recently, in the latest 10 years for example, emissions of GHGs from the waste sector have continued to fall considerably, whereas net emissions from land use and land use change have fallen more gradually. Emissions from fluorinated gases also fell considerably in the latest 10 years, but this offset increases seen in this sector during the previous decade.
Assessment of change
A decrease (improvement) in emissions of GHGs from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases has been observed over the short, medium and long-term assessment periods. This assessment does not consider whether any improvement is on a sufficient scale for meeting targets.
There has also been a decrease (improvement) in emissions of GHGs from natural resources, waste and fluorinated gases since 2018.
Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment background page. Summaries by 25 Year Environment Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.
Table A2: Assessment of change
| Component | Subcomponent | Period | Date range | Percentage change | Smoothing function | Assessment of change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A2 | Net total including forestry sink | Short term | 2017 to 2022 | -6.09 | Loess | Improvement |
| A2 | Net total including forestry sink | Medium term | 2012 to 2022 | -18.70 | Loess | Improvement |
| A2 | Net total including forestry sink | Long term | 1990 to 2022 | -55.11 | Loess | Improvement |
Note that assessment categories for short, medium and long term were assigned based on smoothed data, so percentage change figures in Table A2 may differ from unsmoothed values quoted elsewhere. Percentage change refers to the difference seen from the first to last year in the specified date range.