CO2 emissions in 2015, at 35.7 billion tons, are likely to be exactly where they were two years ago, according to a new study
published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The flat-lining emissions trajectory is the result of China’s recent sharp decline in coal burning and the global surge in renewables like wind and solar power, said Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, who led the analysis. The study estimates China’s emissions have fallen by 3.9 percent this year. Le Quéré said she does not believe the world has yet hit “peak emissions.” Continued rapid industrial expansion by countries such as India that still rely on coal for energy means further rises probably lie ahead, she said. But the evidence is growing that peak emissions may be closer than previously imagined.
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Global CO2 emissions are projected to fall in 2015.
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