According to a new study published in Nature Climate Change, emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industry are likely to have fallen 0.6% in 2015. Researchers say it is the first time this has happened while the global economy has continued to grow. Since 2000, global emissions have grown annually by 2-3%. The slowdown has occurred while the global economy has grown by 3% in both 2014 and 2015.
Professor Corinne Le Quere from the University of East Anglia, UK, led the data analysis. She reported that the fall-off is primarily due to reduced coal use in China. “It’s restructuring its economy,” she noted, “but there is also a contribution from the very fast growth in renewable energy worldwide, and this is the most interesting part: can we actually grow renewable energy enough to offset the coal use elsewhere?”
Researchers expect the stall to be temporary and for emissions to grow again as emerging economies develop.
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