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Energy-related CO2 emissions held steady despite economic growth

They seemed inseparable. But the once-rigid link between rises in global economic activity and carbon dioxide emissions may have been broken. The International Energy Agency has reported that CO2 emissions from energy activities such as power generation and transport have remained unchanged for the second year running – even as the global economy grew. Annual CO2 emissions in 2015 are still where they were in 2013, at just over 32 billion tonnes, even though global economic activity has grown by 6.5 per cent (see graph, below). This represents a dramatic reduction in the carbon intensity of the global economy. It also means the world may be on track for global emissions to reach their peak by 2020 – at least from energy production – which climate scientists say is a prerequisite for holding global warming below 2 °C, the target agreed at the Paris climate talks last December.