{"id":20225,"date":"2014-12-16T12:46:45","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T12:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rtcc.org\/?p=20225"},"modified":"2014-12-16T12:47:04","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T12:47:04","slug":"emissions-growth-slows-as-economies-clean-up-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2014\/12\/16\/emissions-growth-slows-as-economies-clean-up-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Emissions growth slows as economies clean up – research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fossil fuel use and industries emitted a record 35.3Gt of CO2 in 2013, but slowdown shows economic decoupling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Major

Major economies are getting less carbon-intensive
(Pic: Flickr\/kris krug<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

By Megan Darby<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Global carbon dioxide emissions growth is slowing down as major economies get cleaner, Dutch researchers have found.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Sunday\u2019s global climate agreement in Lima made only incremental progress to prevent dangerous global warming, economic growth is getting less dependent on polluting activities.<\/p>\n

Emissions from fossil fuel use and industrial sources increased to a record 35.3 billion tonnes in 2013, PBL revealed<\/a> \u2013 2% higher than 2012.<\/p>\n

That is a smaller rise than the 3.8% average over the last decade, a slowdown PBL called \u201cremarkable\u201d in a year the global economy grew 3.1%.<\/p>\n

\"PBL<\/p>\n

It is a mixed picture, with sharper rises of 6.2% in Brazil, 4.4% in India and 4.2% in China, while the European Union\u2019s emissions decreased 1.4%.<\/p>\n

US emissions rose 2.5%, reflecting a shift from gas back to coal for power production and higher gas demand for heating.<\/p>\n

Overall, the data shows a progressive decoupling of global emissions and economic growth, said PBL, an advisory body to the Netherlands government.<\/p>\n

Climate expert Niklas Hohne warned against reading too much into one year’s figures, but agreed there were “some positive movements”.<\/p>\n

These were driven by governments, he told RTCC, for example half of countries have some kind of energy efficiency standard for buildings.<\/p>\n

BRIEFING:<\/strong> The Lima call for climate action<\/a><\/p>\n

A separate\u00a0assessment<\/a> from six European institutions, including PBL, highlighted the need for more carbon cutting policies.<\/p>\n

Emissions targets set by major economies will cut the global warming trajectory 1-1.5C compared to business as usual, it found.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s recent pledge to peak emissions around 2030, in particular, is expected to halve its cumulative total.<\/p>\n

Yet the results fall short of the 2C warming limit negotiators agreed in 2009 to work towards. Beyond that, scientists say the impacts of climate change will get more extreme and unpredictable.<\/p>\n

The \u201cLima call for climate action\u201d asks countries to publish further carbon cutting plans in early 2015.<\/p>\n

These will be reviewed by the UN before the next round of talks, in Paris, where negotiators are due to strike a global climate deal.<\/p>\n

There needs to be “a race to the top”, said Hohne, with countries competing to offer the most ambitious plans, for Paris to come up with a strong result.<\/p>\n