Fact Check: EU ima ogroman ekološki otisak po glavi stanovnika (...

1. Summary of the results

The statement about the EU's large ecological footprint is well-supported by multiple data points:

The EU's per capita CO2 emissions are 1.5 times higher than the global average, reaching 11 tons annually when including imported goods and services ^[1]
Luxembourg leads with 14.5 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per capita, double the EU average of 7.25 tCO₂e/cap ^[2]
Germany is the largest absolute polluter, responsible for about 25% of EU-27's total emissions with 780 MtCO₂e in 2022 ^[2]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual factors are missing from the original statement:

While the EU's footprint remains high, emissions have decreased by approximately 35% since 1990 ^[2]
The EU's per capita emissions (11 tons) are lower than the US (21 tons) but higher than China (8 tons) ^[1]
There is significant internal inequality in emissions:
The top 10% of EU emitters produce around 24 tons of CO2 per capita ^[3]
Within-country emissions inequality is becoming more significant than between-country differences ^[3]
Attempts at "green growth" have been unsuccessful, as there is no empirical evidence of meaningful decoupling of economic growth from environmental impact ^[4]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

While the original statement is factually correct, it lacks important nuance:

It doesn't acknowledge the ongoing efforts to reduce emissions, despite their limited success
The statement might benefit those arguing against EU environmental policies, while overlooking that the main driver of high emissions is the prioritization of GDP growth by governments ^[5]
The focus on aggregate numbers masks the significant inequality in emissions between different socioeconomic groups within the EU ^[3]
The statement doesn't mention that attempts at "green growth" have failed to reduce resource use at the scale required to address environmental breakdown ^[5]

Past Checks