The European Union’s expenditure in 2021 on environmental protection, investments and consumption amounted to €292 billion ($305.4 bn), said Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.
The expenditure has risen by over 3 percent on average each year, with a total increase of 54 percent since 2006.
Also, the expenditure on environmental protection remained stable over the last 15 years at about 2 percent of GDP.
This stat is revealed from data on environmental protection expenditure accounts published Monday.
Corporations’ spending was the largest share of the environmental protection expenditure, accounting for 55 percent of the total in 2021.
The general government and non-profit sector share of the expenditure was 24 percent, while the households’ share was 21 percent of that year’s total.
Compared with 2006, all three institutional sectors registered spending increases: 62 percent for corporations, 41 percent for general government and the non-profit sector, and 52 percent for households.
Eurostat estimates that, in 2021, waste management and wastewater treatment accounted for 28 percent and 23 percent of total expenditure in the general government and non-profit sector.
Twenty-four percent of total expenditure went to environmental R&D and other environmental protection activities, including general environmental administration and education.
Also, 13 percent to biodiversity and landscape protection were allocated, and the remaining 11 percent to air protection, soil and groundwater protection, noise reduction and protection against radiation.
As far as corporations are concerned, wastewater and waste management represented 27 percent and 56 percent of their expenditure in 2021, respectively.
Protection of ambient air and climate accounted for 7 percent of the total.
The remaining 10 percent was devoted to protecting soil and groundwater, biodiversity, noise reduction, protection against radiation and environmental R&D.
In 2021, EU investments in assets essential to provide environmental protection services amounted to €59 billion, €5 billion more than in 2020.
These services included wastewater treatment plants, vehicles to transport waste, and land acquisitions to create a natural reserve for producing with less polluting emissions.
