Global CO2 emissions hit record in 2011 led by China: IEA

By Michel Rose, with additional reporting by Gus Trompiz and Muriel Boselli; editing by Jason Neely
24 May 2012 PARIS (Reuters) – China spurred a jump in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to their highest ever recorded level in 2011, offsetting falls in the United States and Europe, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. CO2 emissions rose by 3.2 percent last year to 31.6 billion metric tons (34.83 billion tons), preliminary estimates from the Paris-based IEA showed. China, the world’s biggest emitter of CO2, made the largest contribution to the global rise, its emissions increasing by 9.3 percent, the body said, driven mainly by higher coal use. “When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (by 2050), which would have devastating consequences for the planet,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist told Reuters. Scientists say ensuring global average temperatures this century do not rise more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is needed to limit devastating climate effects like crop failure and melting glaciers. They believe that is only possible if emission levels are kept to around 44 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in 2020. […] “I think it would be unrealistic to think that there will be major breakthroughs very soon,” Birol said. “Climate change is sliding down in the international policy agenda, which is definitely a worrying trend.” […] “In Japan, the rise is almost exclusively due to higher fossil fuel use. This is a very important indication of what could happen if there was a move away from nuclear energy in other countries,” he said. […] Asked about prospects for global carbon emissions in 2012, Birol said: “It would come as a very, very big surprise to me if we saw a significant decline in CO2 emissions.”