Study suggests global emissions may be dropping this year

A round of high-level talks began Sunday evening (early Monday morning in Japan) – a day earlier than scheduled – to shape an agreement on the new global framework, which is scheduled to take effect in 2020.

The projected dip of 0.6 percent over 2014 levels, if confirmed, marks the first decline in heat-trapping pollutants in a year when the world economy was not in recession, a new analysis shows.

“In 2014, global Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels grew by just 0.6 percent”, lead author Rob Jackson, a professor of earth system science at Stanford University, said in a statement.

Global carbon dioxide emissions are projected to fall slightly in 2015 – despite economic growth, a study has revealed. Some say the trend in declining emissions is only temporary, but others counter that the finding offers a rare glimmer of hope in the fight against climate change.

UN member nations have vowed to cap global warming to a maximum of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-Industrial Revolution levels. Prime ministers Greg Selinger of Manitoba, Kathleen Wynne of Ontario & Philippe Couillard of Quebec signed a memorandum of understanding Monday. aiming at decreasing greenhouse gases emissions & helping transition to a low-carbon economy. Many countries pointed fingers at the United States and China for lack of accountability in emissions.

“(They have an) incredible volume potential for growth and it’s simply our next frontier for trying to bring global Carbon dioxide emissions to (turn around)”.

This figure may look insignificant, but when considering there has been an average annual increase of 2.4 per cent in the past decade as well as a dramatic swelling of 90 per cent since 1970, this drop is a momentous break in the rapid growth seen in recent years.

Ban said the parties have the unique opportunity to define the destiny of the earth as he mentioned that 150 leaders from around the world stood here a week ago with full support for a robust global climate agreement.

While New Zealand has pledged to cut our emissions by 11 per cent compared to 1990 by 2030. While that’s different from greenhouse gas emissions, much of the air pollution is blamed on coal-fired power plants and vehicle emissions which also are key sources of carbon emissions.

While the West could not stop stressing on the catastrophic threat posed by the rabid use of coal by emerging nations, it chose to ignore the latest scientific report released by Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, which suggests more feasible solution of slowing down global warming. As economies surge they usually use more energy, Jackson says, which means they put out more CO2.

For one, demand for oil and natural gas has shrunk, while the use of renewable energy has grown dramatically. In August, the White House launched the Climate Interactive’s World Climate Project as a resource to help people “engage in acts of leadership on climate change”. This slowed to 1.2 per cent in 2014, and this year emissions are expected to extraordinarily fall by almost four per cent.

But that’s not to say we can all give ourselves a big pat on the back.

“Even without a fixed number and a legal shell, we are going to see an enormous amount of movement without creating political obstacles that prevent us from being able to send that signal”, Kerry told a gathering on the sidelines of the climate conference in the French capital.

China was the world’s largest emitter with with 9.7 billion tonnes, followed by US with 5.6 billion tonnes, the European Union with 3.4 billion tonnes and India with 2.6 billion tonnes.

A strong basis for this assessment is the remarkable growth in non-fossil fuel energy sources such as hydro, nuclear and renewables.

One of the new reports found that such an ambitious warming goal would require a global energy transition with such speed and scale as has never before been achieved, as well as an emphasis on “negative emissions” that have not been tested at the necessary magnitude that would be required.