European industry accounts for only 1.2% of global CO2 emissions.

Omissions

• No official source states the 1.2% figure explicitly; it is the arithmetical product of two separately published statistics (EU share of global emissions × industry share of EU emissions), so its precision (1.2%) overstates the accuracy of the underlying data.
• The figure is valid only on a territorial/production basis. Eurostat's consumption-based footprint puts emissions linked to EU final demand at about 4.0 Gt CO2eq, roughly 8% of global emissions in 2023, because a large share of industrial goods consumed in the EU is produced elsewhere.
• The speaker's companion figure of '5%' for the EU's total share of global CO2 is slightly below the official EDGAR value of 5.9% (2024) / 6.1% (2023); using the correct total would give a slightly higher industry share (≈1.2–1.25%).
• The claim refers to CO2 while the sectoral breakdown and the 5.9% share are expressed in CO2-equivalents (all greenhouse gases), a minor metric mismatch.
• Data used are the most recent available before the session (2024 EDGAR estimates, 2023 sectoral breakdown), so they are appropriate, though sectoral shares are subject to revision.

Sources

• PrimaryEDGAR – Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research, European Commission JRC (Report 2025)"In 2024, EU27 emissions decreased by 1.8% (-57.9 Mt CO2eq) and the EU27's share of global emissions decreased from 6.1% in 2023 to 5.9% in 2024." Global GHG emissions in 2024 reached 53.2 Gt CO2eq.
• PrimaryEurostat Statistics Explained – Greenhouse gas emission footprints"Some 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents were produced in the EU (6% of the global emissions)" in 2023; "The EU's consumption (final demand of goods and services) led to 4.0 billion tonnes of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, which was about 8% of worldwide emissions."
• SecondaryEuropean Parliament – Greenhouse gas emissions by country and sector (infographic)"Greenhouse gas emissions from industry were responsible for 20.3% of the emissions" in the EU in 2022 (energy supply 27.4%, domestic transport 23.8%).
• SecondaryStatista – EU-27 GHG emissions breakdown by sector (based on EEA/Eurostat data)EU-27, 2023, based on approximately 3.15 GtCO2e: Industry 19.93% of emissions; Energy supply 23.91%; Domestic transport 25.2%; Agriculture 11.58%.