Environment: India’s percentage of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during 2016-19 was higher than the world average of 0.7 percent, even though it rose slower than in 2011-15, according to an analysis published in Nature Climate Change.
China posted a 0.4 percent increase in 2016-19 and the United States registered a decline in emissions of 0.7 percent, though in absolute numbers they dwarf India’s emissions. In 2018, China emitted about 10 billion tonnes and the United States 5.41 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. India emitted 2.65 tonnes over the same time.
“India’s percentage emissions must be seen in the context of the development trajectories of different countries. The absolute emissions of both China and the U.S. are huge,” said Ajay Mathur, former director general, The Energy Resources Institute. “Our reductions are primarily driven by energy efficiency gains in electricity production and use and it’s likely that we would post improved gains in the next assessment.”
During 2016-2019 emissions grew by 0.21 billion tonnes of CO2 per year compared to 2011-2015 globally. Emissions increased in 150 countries and decreased in 64 countries. However, research showed that in the 64 countries that cut their fossil CO2 emissions, the rate of reduction should have increased tenfold to meet the UN Paris Agreement. Countries that signed the agreement in 2015 have committed to reduce emissions to the extent that would stop the earth from warming below 0.5-1 degree Celsius by the end of the century.
In 2020, lockdowns around the globe helped cut global emissions by 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2, about seven percent below 2019 levels. The researchers say 2020 acted like a ‘pause button’ that is unlikely to continue especially since the world relies overwhelmingly on fossil fuels, and lockdowns are ‘neither a sustainable nor desirable solution’ to the climate crisis. During this year, India’s emissions fell 9.7 percent—slightly more than the world average of 9.6 percent.
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