Reducing greenhouse gases emissions is one of the major environmental challenges of the modern world. The European Union (EU) has set itself ambitious reduction targets. Proper monitoring of emissions and its valuation is necessary to achieve this goal. In addition, valuation (in monetary terms) will help to raise awareness of the climate change costs among society. The aim of this article is to present international comparisons within the EU covering the monitoring and valuation of aggregate emissions of selected greenhouse gases in general and in agriculture. The study uses Eurostat data for the years 2007-2015. The evaluation was based on the average annual price of carbon dioxide allowances under the European Union Emissions Trading System. Leipzig stock market data were used to determine the price. The study compares the total greenhouse gas emissions and its value in different EU countries. These results show that the largest emitters in the EU are Germany, United Kingdom, France. A comparison of per capita and per GDP emissions results in an almost reversal of this order. The share of agriculture in greenhouse gas emissions was 11% in 2015 and ranged between countries from 3% (Malta) do 32% (Ireland). The results show also that the decline in value is greater than the decrease in emissions. This is due to the dramatic change in the price of allowances. The decrease in quantity of agricultural emission was 0,5%, whilst the decrease in value was 55,5% between years 2008 and 2015.

The topic of public goods in agriculture has become a very important and widely discussed subject in recent years. The demand for public goods generated by agriculture results from the expectations of the whole society, and the goods themselves are considered as a part of public health. Accordingly, in this study an attempt was made to determine the importance of animal welfare, as an example of the public goods generated by agriculture, to the Polish citizens and its determinants. Empirical studies were conducted in the second quarter of 2017 on a representative sample of 500 Polish citizens. It was found that people in Poland generally rate animal welfare very highly (average score 88.43 on a scale of 0-100) and that there is a statistical difference in the assessment of the importance of animal welfare on grounds of interest in healthy food, the number of people in the household and sensitivity to the beauty of nature. Additionally, factors determining the importance of animal welfare include: consuming organic food, interest in culture, interest in fashion, sex, age and smoking.

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The aim of the article was to present the changes in the profitability of milk production in farms associated in EDF and situated in Poland and selected European countries in 2006–2012. It was found that after the Polish accession to the EU, the situation has improved for milk producers – economic and production results have risen. In 2008–2009, there was a significant deterioration in the profitability of milk production due to, among others, significant declines in milk prices. Since 2010, gradual improvement of the situation is observed. Similar changes occur in dairy farms in other European countries, such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. This shows how big the interconnectedness between countries is and that the situation of agricultural producers in Poland does not depend only on the local and national market fluctuations, but primarily on fluctuations in the European and global markets.

The aim of the study was to compare the total greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union countries and their emission efficiency. Emission efficiency was calculated as the ratio of emission volume and value to gross value added generated by the economy of a given country (size of the economy). The necessary statistical data was obtained from Eurostat. It was found that in 2015 most of greenhouse gases were emitted by: Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, France and Italy. At the same time, France and the United Kingdom were characterized by one of the best emission efficiency in the European Union, Germany and Italy obtained average results, while Poland was in the group of countries with the lowest emission efficiency. Therefore, it can be concluded, that the volume of emissions is significantly affected by the size of the economy. Some large emitters have economies based on relatively “clean” technologies and thus their potential to further reduction is not very high. The reverse is true for some low-emission countries, such as Estonia and Bulgaria. This indicates the need for a more comprehensive look at the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.