Global Carbon Emissions Stalled In 2015 - Mar 16, 2015

For the first time in 40 years of data, global carbon emissions stalled last year, without a link to a global downturn in the economy. According to data from the International Energy Agency, emissions remained at 32 gigatonnes in 2014, unchanged from the year prior. The Paris-based organisation said that in the four decade history of data collecting, annual emissions had stalled or fallen only three times, and were all associated with global downturns, after the US recession in the early 80s, in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in 2009 during the global financial crisis. China’s efforts to fight pollution is said to be one of the main factors. The IEA warns that while the news is encouraging, there was ‘no time for complacency’, in the lead up to the 2015 Climate Summit in Paris.