REGIONAL DIFFERENCES OF GREENHOUSE GASES FROM AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES IN BULGARIA

Abstract

The leading role in the implementation of environmental protection and climate change policies
belongs to the European Union. In this regard, the European Green Pact includes measures aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and carbon emissions by 2050. Establishing trends and
the intensity of ongoing processes are of particular importance in revealing differences in the development
of regions, as well as the need to take adequate measures to reduce and limit them. In this
sense, in the article, monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions from the implementation of agricultural
activity was carried out. An analysis of the levels and rates of change in greenhouse gas emissions
by individual components of Bulgaria's agriculture was carried out for the period 2018 – 2022. In
addition, a comparative analysis was made compared to 1990 and compared to 2007. The positioning
of the individual regions in Bulgaria regarding the reduction or increase in emissions. The main goal
of the study is to analyze the main indicators – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous
oxide (N2O) for the statistical regions in Bulgaria (North – West, North – Central, North – East,
South – East, South – West and South – Central planning regions), regarding the current picture of
the state and trends in the levels of greenhouse gas emissions from the activity of economic units in
the agrarian sector. The analysis of the dynamics regarding the levels of CO2, CH4 and N2O shows
that for all six studied regions a significant decrease in values in 2007 compared to the base year
1990 is characteristic. The percentage decrease is greatest for the North-Central and North-East region
(–83.48), followed by the North – West (–57.95). The reduction of methane emissions is more
than 60% in different regions, and for N2O it is in the range of –58.99 to –62.03. For the period 2018 –
2022, an increasing trend of the CO2 and N2O indicator is established compared to both the base
year 1990 and 2007 in all studied statistical regions. For the same 5-year period, different trends are
observed in the methane emissions in the individual studied areas. For three of them NWPR, SEPR
and the SCPR, a sustainable reduction in emissions is observed. Despite the decrease in emissions
in 2007, for the rest of the 5-year period, an increase is reported for the NCPR and NEPR, especially
for the last 3 years. The South –West region is characterized by a decrease that continues until 2019,
and for the remaining 3 years emissions increase again.