When land use emissions are included, global CO2 emissions this year are set to total 40.9 billion tons.
Emissions from coal, oil and gas increased due to India and China. The growth in China was driven by the reopening of its economy after the COVID-19 lockdown, while in India electricity demand grew faster than the country’s renewable energy capacity, leading to the need for fossil fuels to meet the shortfall. The need arose.
The year’s emissions trajectory pulls the world away from limiting global warming to more than 1.5°C from pre-industrial times.
“It now looks inevitable that we will exceed the 1.5C target of the Paris Agreement,” said Professor Pierre Friedlingstein of Exeter, who led the research.