Global CO2 emissions reach new all-time high in 2011

Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) rose by 3% last year to a new record of 34 billion tonnes, according to the annual report Trends in global CO₂ emissions by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL).

In the EU CO₂ emissions dropped by 3% to 7.5 tonnes per capita. Emissions in the US and Japan fell 2%. OECD countries now account for one-third of global CO₂ emissions – the same share as that of China and India combined.

China's emissions continued to grow rapidly, increasing by 9%. Chinese per capita emissions, at 7.2 tonnes, are now just below the EU level.

The top global emitters in 2011 were China (29%), the United States (16%), the EU (11%), India (6%), the Russian Federation (5%) and Japan (4%).

Growth in renewable energy is accelerating. It took solar and wind energy and biofuels 12 years from 1992 to double their share of global energy production from 0.5% to 1%, but only six more years to double it again to 2.1% by 2011. This represents about 800 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided, or the equivalent of Germany's total CO₂ emissions in 2011.

Scientific literature suggests that it will be possible to limit the rise in average global temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial levels – the target adopted in the UN climate negotiations – only if cumulative CO₂ emissions in the period 2000–2050 do not exceed 1000 to 1500 billion tonnes. If the current global trend of increasing CO₂ emissions continues, cumulative emissions will surpass this limit within the next two decades.

Read more:

• Trends in global CO2 emissions report
• Joint Research Centre (JRC) news