CO2 emissions stall despite global growth
Print Edition
GLOBAL economic growth did not translate into more harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector last year, the IEA said yesterday, a strong indication that growth and increased pollution no longer go hand in hand.
For the second year running, worldwide CO2 emissions stalled in 2015 while the global economy grew by 3.1 percent, after a 3.4 percent rise in 2014, the International Energy Agency said. A surge in the contribution from renewable energy sources explains the de-coupling of growth and CO2 emissions, with clean energy sources accounting for 90 percent of all new electricity generation in 2015. Wind alone contributed half of all new electricity generation, the IEA said.
“We now have seen two straight years of greenhouse gas emissions de-coupling from economic growth,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.
“Coming just a few months after the landmark COP21 agreement in Paris, this is yet another boost to the global fight against climate change.”
There have been four instances of falling CO2 emissions year on year in the last four decades, three of which coincided with economic weakness, in contrast to the scenario seen these past two years. The two largest greenhouse gas emitters, the United States and China, both registered declines in CO2 production in 2015.
But this was offset by increased emissions in other Asian countries, the Middle East and, to a less extent, in Europe, keeping the overall emissions level flat, the IEA said.
China’s CO2 emissions declined by 1.5 percent in 2015, marking the largest decrease in volumes compared with other countries. “China’s emissions decline is mainly driven by a reduction in coal use,” Birol said.
He indicated that China’s economic restructuring toward less energy-intensive industries and the government’s efforts to decarbonize electricity generation pushed down coal use.
In 2015, coal generated less than 70 percent of Chinese electricity, 10 percentage points less than in 2011. Over the same period, low-carbon sources jumped from 19 percent to 28 percent, with hydro and wind accounting for most of the increase, IEA said.
“It is very good news that global emission is flat. We see a major contribution coming from China. It is mainly because of Chinese government’s efforts to push renewable energies and other clean energies technologies,” Birol noted. “The policies have been designed and successfully implemented by China’s government,” he said.
“China’s energy structure in the future will be much more diverse than it is now. The major energy in China is coal and oil in last few years. Now we are going to see less coal, but more renewable energies, more natural gas and more nuclear power,” he indicated.
“I hope to see China’s targets in the new five-year plan implemented successfully. I also hope to see China emissions will decrease sequentially,” Birol said.
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