CO2 Emissions in Richest Countries Set to Show First Increase in Five Years

Carbon dioxide emissions in the world’s richest countries are on track to increase slightly this year after five years of reductions, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) is pointing to oil and gas consumption as the main culprit.

“Based on the latest energy data available, energy-related CO2 emissions in North America, the European Union, and other advanced economies in Asia Pacific are set to increase by around 0.5% in 2018,” Reuters reports. “This is lower than the 2.4% rise in economic growth, but ends the declining trend of the past five years.”

The IEA also expects emerging economies to emit more CO2 this year than they did in 2017.

“This turnaround should be another warning to governments as they meet in Katowice this week,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Increasing efforts are needed to encourage even more renewables, greater energy efficiency, more nuclear, and more innovation for technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage and hydrogen, for instance.”

The global growth in emissions follows a 1.6% increase in 2017, after three years of declines between 2014 and 2016.

“Even though renewable energy deployment is growing and coal consumption declining in some parts of the world, oil demand and natural gas use have been growing this year,” Reuters states. “There are also still a large number of new coal plants being built.”