Global Carbon Emissions Growth to Stall in 2015: Research

But other countries, from North America to Europe, also emitted less carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning as governments and consumers shifted to cleaner fuels and more fuel-efficient vehicles, according to a report published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change.

For the first time in history, global carbon dioxide emissions appear to be heading toward an yearly decline, possibly marking an end to an era of burgeoning global greenhouse gas emissions.

The report notes whether the slower growth in emissions will be sustained depends on China’s and other countries’ use of coal, as well as what sources countries are turning to to replace the lost generating capacity of the fossil fuel.

“And in the industrial economies like in the United Kingdom, where emissions are going down, the decrease is relatively modest, mostly 1-2%”.

“Reaching zero emissions will require long-term commitments from countries attending the climate meeting in Paris this week and beyond”, Professor Jackson said.

Meanwhile, a surprising new study suggested global carbon dioxide emissions may be dropping ever so slightly this year.

The most substantial decline in emissions in the last 15 years was made by EU countries, where legally binding targets set by the EU Commission are credited with driving the use of renewables up to 15 per cent overall.

And with average global temperatures likely to rise by three or four degrees Celsius, scientists have warned that, if emissions continue to rise, we will pass the threshold after which climate change will become catastrophic and irreversible.

The research team said their projection for 2015 fell within a range of statistical uncertainty, from a decline of 1.6 percent to a small rise of 0.5 percent. While it doesn’t sound like much as a percentage, Australia represents just 0.33 percent of the world´s total population – so we’re still punching well above our weight.

“I’m not optimistic that we’re near a peak”, Zou Ji, a deputy director general of China’s National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, said in the same Times story.

China is now recovering from a slow economic growth that can be attributed to this decrease in coal related emissions however for India, the nation is planning to double its coal burning output to supply power where carbon emissions growth will likely resume to increase in the next few years.

If you think this natural-gas flare at this North Dakota oil well is the problem rather than the solution, political scientists know how you vote.

Australia’s per capita emissions remain high but with a strong declining trend over the past 6 years. This is the first two-year period in a multi-decade record where the global economy shows clear signs of decoupling from fossil fuel emissions.

A Stanford-led study claims that we might have hit global peak emissions in 2014. “There is a long way to near-zero emissions”.

Up until this year, carbon emissions had been growing by more than 2 per cent annually for a decade.

By putting less emphasis on steel manufacturing and construction and placing a 2020 cap on coal emissions, “China, at the moment, is shifting to this new normal”, said Peters. (America was second, unleashing 5.6 billion tonnes.) At the same time, though, more than half of its new energy needs were met using low-carbon sources, including wind, sunlight and nuclear power.