Greenhouse gas emissions regulated under Europe39;s carbon market fell by 13.3 last year, with those from the airlines sector down by almost twothirds, the European Commission said late on Thursday.

Around 40 of the European Union39;s output of greenhouse gases is regulated by the Emissions Trading System ETS, the bloc39;s flagship policy for tackling global warming which charges companies for the right to emit carbon dioxide CO2.

As one of the sectors most vulnerable to the COVID19 pandemic, aviation saw the steepest reduction in emissions, the Commission said, citing a 64.1 fall.

Emissions in the power sector fell 14.9 on lower electricity consumption and factors including the replacement of coal with gasfired power generation.

Industrial emissions were down 7 on average with the sharpest drop seen in the iron and steel sector.

Total verified greenhouse gas emissions from stationary installations, such as power plants and factories, were 1.331 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent CO2e in 2020, a drop of 11.2.

Emissions from the aviation industry were 24.5 million tonnes of CO2e, compared with 68.2 million tonnes CO2e in 2019, the Commission said.

While lower energy demand generally helped reduce emissions, the Commission noted it is not possible with current data to determine how much of this reduction can be attributed to gains in emissions efficiency.

The figures, based on more than 95 of reported emissions from participating sectors and countries,…