CO2 Emissions Stay Flat In Last 3 Years, But Not Enough

Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have been nearly flat for three years in a row – a “great help” but not enough to stave off dangerous global warming. Emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide stayed level in 2015 at 36.3 billion tonnes (GtCO2) and were projected to rise “only slightly”, by 0.2% in 2016, according to the annual Global Carbon Budget report compiled by team of scientist from around the world. This third year of almost no growth in emissions is precedented at a time of strong economic growth. Driven largely by reduced coal use in Chine, this was a “clear and unprecedented break” with the preceding decade’s fast emissions growth, at a rate of some 2.3% per year from 2004 to 2013, before dipping to 0.7% in 2014. This is a great help for tackling climate change but it is not enough. For the world’s nations to make true on the global pact to limit average global warming to 2°C (3.6°F) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, emissions must do more than level off. A decrease of 0.9% per year was needed to achieve this limit by 2030. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has continued to grow, the report warned, hitting a record level of 23 GtCO2 last year that looked set to reach 25GtCO2 in 2016.