Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Agriculture in EU Countries

The main objective of the paper was to show the relationship of greenhouse gas emissions by agriculture with economic development and agricultural production parameters in the European Union. All EU Member States were selected for research purposefully. The research period concerned the years 2004-2017. The sources of materials were EUROSTAT data, literature on the subject. For the analysis and presentation of materials, descriptive, tabular, graphic methods, dynamics based on a constant basis, Gini concentration coefficient, concentration analysis using the Lorenz curve, Pearson's linear correlation coefficients were used. Agriculture is one of the major economic sectors responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. In 2004-2017, emissions from this section slightly decreased in the EU. There was a wide variation between countries. Economically developing countries increased emissions, while developed countries maintained them at a similar level. Greenhouse gas emissions were highly concentrated in several EU countries. These were the countries with the most developed agriculture. In the years 2004-2017, there were no changes in the level of emission concentration. The level of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture depended on the economic and agricultural situation in the country. The regularities were in many cases straightforward, as for the relationship of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture with the value of animal production, cattle population, and the use of mineral fertilizers and manure production. This close relationship resulted from the fact that livestock production was the part of agriculture that generated the most greenhouse gases.