46,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles while waiting at border control – KPMG report on the environmental impact of Romania and Bulgaria remaining outside Schengen

A report by consultancy firm KPMG published on Tuesday shows that an estimated 46,000 tonnes of CO2 per year is emitted by road vehicles while waiting at border control as a result of the postponement of Romania and Bulgaria’s admission to Schengen.

The report shows that more than 311,000 thousand mature trees are needed to capture the carbon emissions associated with waiting at the border.

One area affected by the postponement of Romania and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession is the negative environmental impact of continued border controls due to CO2 emissions from vehicles waiting to cross the border and be processed and whose engines are left running.

KPMG carried out an analysis to quantify what this impact is and its negative effects on the EU’s environmental objectives.

The research involved calculating carbon emissions over a one-year period from road vehicles waiting to cross the borders between Romania and Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary and Bulgaria and Greece. The data was based on the number of vehicles crossing, vehicle types and average waiting time. To collect the primary data, KPMG specialists sent requests for information to relevant public institutions in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, as well as to private organisations.

The research is based on data and information obtained from these requests and received by 17 March 2023. The study considered emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, light-duty vehicles, large passenger buses, minibuses and passenger cars (including all types of vehicles from small cars to SUVs). An estimate of waiting times was then made, based mainly on information provided by the National Union of Road Hauliers in Romania (UNTRR) following surveys and interviews with road transport operators and logistics companies, as well as KPMG analysis.

Some information has also been gathered from real-time statistics compiled by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police, which are published on the institution’s website.

The research concluded that it can be estimated that more than 46 thousand tonnes of CO2 per year are emitted as a result of the postponement of Romania and Bulgaria’s admission to Schengen.