THE latest figures for Jersey’s greenhouse gas emissions have shown a small increase following the Covid-19 pandemic – but the Island’s long-term trend remains downward.
Statistics published by the government showed that 358,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases were emitted in 2021, a rise from the 2020 figure of 336,000 tonnes.
However, the timeline for emissions across the period 1990 to 2021 shows a decline of 46%, with the most recent rise stemming from the increase in activity compared to 2020 when the Island was in lockdown part of the time, according to the government.
Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune said: ‘Whilst we’ve seen a small percentage rise in the amount of emissions in 2021 compared with 2020, we’ll need to wait until next year’s inventory to get a true understanding of where we’re at post the peak of the Covid pandemic.
‘What’s particularly pleasing is that despite the increase in home working, residential emissions continued to fall.
‘Transport remains our largest emitting sector at 41%, and we clearly have continuing work to do in this area to support Islanders with the switch away from fossil fuel vehicles.’
Deputy Jeune said the government’s main focus was on encouraging active travel.
The government added that it was the global norm that annual statistics of this type were always released two years in arrears due to the complexity of the data and the detailed nature of the analysis.
