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Reaching peak emissions

Nature Climate Change volume 6, pages 7–10 (2016)Cite this article

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Rapid growth in global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry ceased in the past two years, despite continued economic growth. Decreased coal use in China was largely responsible, coupled with slower global growth in petroleum and faster growth in renewables.

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Figure 1: Global CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel use and industry since 1990 and emissions intensity CO2/GDP.
Figure 2: Change in CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel use and industry since 2011.
Figure 3: Energy consumption by fuel source from 2000 to 2014, with growth rates indicated for the more recent period of 2010 to 2014.

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Acknowledgements

This work is a collaborative effort of the Global Carbon Project, part of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program and Future Earth, to provide regular analyses of the main global carbon emissions and sinks (www.globalcarbonproject.org). The authors wish to thank the US Carbon Cycle Science Program and Stanford University (R.B.J.), the Australian Climate Change Science Program (J.G.C.), Research Council of Norway projects 236296 and 209701 (R.M.A., J.I.K. and G.P.P.), and the UK Natural Environment Research Council International Opportunities Fund (NE/103002X/1) (C.L.Q.) for their support. We thank the Jackson lab for comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, Woods Institute for the Environment, and Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Robert B. Jackson

  2. Global Carbon Project, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

    Josep G. Canadell

  3. Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Corinne Le Quéré

  4. Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo, PO Box 1129 Blindern, Oslo, 0318, Norway

    Robbie M. Andrew, Jan Ivar Korsbakken & Glen P. Peters

  5. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, Laxenburg, 2361, Austria

    Nebojsa Nakicenovic

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  1. Robert B. Jackson
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Correspondence to Robert B. Jackson.

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Jackson, R., Canadell, J., Le Quéré, C. et al. Reaching peak emissions. Nature Clim Change 6, 7–10 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2892

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