Latvia Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

while land, water, and air pollution are evident, Latvia's environment has benefited from a shift to service industries after the country regained independence; improvements have occurred in drinking water quality, sewage treatment, household and hazardous waste management, as well as reduction of air pollution; concerns include nature protection and the management of water resources and the protection of the Baltic Sea

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

maritime; wet, moderate winters

Land use

agricultural land: 29.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 18.6% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 10.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 54.1% (2018 est.)

other: 16.7% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 68.7% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: -0.68% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.85% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 12.02 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 7 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.85 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 857,000 tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 181,941 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 21.2% (2015 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 90 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 40 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

34.94 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)