World carbon emissions set to fall significantly in 2009 - IEA
Mon 21 September 2009
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A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that global carbon emissions will fall significantly this year. While the bulk of the cuts may be attributed to the recession, the IEA report says that there is solid evidence that the policies of governments around the World are beginning to work. Meanwhile, ENDS reports that provisional data from the European Energy Agency shows that emissions of greenhouse gases in the EU-15 continued their fall for the fourth consecutive year in 2008.
The IEA's annual World Energy Outlook, will not be officially released until October, but the Financial Times reported on an early copy of the study which said that CO2 emissions have undergone a "significant decline" this year.
The report said that falling industrial output combined with postponed infrastructure projects such as coal fired power plants meant that the drop in emissions this year would be even larger than the fall which took place in 1981 following the oil crisis.
Significantly, though, the report also says that around a quarter of the cuts were the result of tightening environmental regulations, providing the first concrete evidence that governments' climate change policies are beginning to enjoy some success.
Amongst the most effective policies, the IEA singled out the EU's binding target to cut emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, new US fuel efficiency standards for cars and China's energy efficiency policies as three of the primary drivers behind the falling emissions.
However, the IEA's chief economist is reported as saying that the scale of the cuts provides a unique opportunity for the international community to deliver long-term emission reductions, but he warns that a robust global climate change deal would still be required to ensure that emissions do not simply rebound as the economy recovers.
Greenhouse gas emissions from the EU-15 countries fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2008, dropping by an estimated 1.3% compared to 2007, based on provisional data from the European Environment Agency which was reported by ENDS.
Recent figures from the UK government showed that even before the recession began UK emissions fell two per cent between 2005 and 2007.
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