Emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, are expected to increase by one percent compared to 2021 to reach 36.6 billion tonnes, scientists from the Global Carbon Project calculated in their study presented Friday. This is “slightly more than the 2019 level” before the corona pandemic.
He also said that the increase was mainly due to oil use, which increased by 2.2 percent in 2022 according to available data. The use of climate-damaging coal increased by one percent.
In total, only 380 billion tons of CO2 could be emitted to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees with a 50 percent probability compared to pre-industrial times. The Global Carbon Project, taking into account the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the destruction of forests, calculated that this amount will be reached in nine years, according to the emission values of 2022. To reach the target, global greenhouse gas emissions must fall by 45 percent by 2030.
Glen Peters of the Norwegian climate research institute Cicero, one of the authors of the study, told AFP news agency that the increase in CO2 emissions was mainly due to two factors: the recovery of the global economy after the Corona crisis and the energy crisis. It stems from Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
The study was published in the journal “Earth Systems Science Data” on the occasion of the UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. More than a hundred scientists from nearly 80 research institutions are involved in the Global Carbon Project. Each year, they calculate the CO2 emissions and CO2 budget that humanity still has for a given limit of global warming.
According to co-author Corinne Le Quéré, the increase in CO2 emissions from fossil fuels has at least slowed. If they had increased by three percent per year in the 2000s, they were around 0.5 percent per year over the last decade. “We’ve proven that climate policy works,” said Le Quéré. “But only joint action on this scale against Covid can flatten the curve.”
Among the largest emitters of CO2, India had the largest increase in emissions at six percent, according to the study. The US rose 1.5 percent, scientists assume a 0.9 percent decline for China and a minus 0.8 percent decline for the EU.
CO2 emissions from the EU’s use of natural gas fell by ten percent, but emissions from coal increased by 6.7 percent and emissions from oil by 0.9 percent. According to the report, Germany was the world’s eighth largest emitter with 675 million tons of CO2 last year.
Le Quéré said a clear trend could not be distinguished from the one percent global increase in CO2 emissions. But emissions are not “dropping as they should”.
(SDA)
Source : Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
