Global greenhouse gas emissions are expected to stall and possibly fall in 2015, researchers said on Monday, noting that it would be the first time such a decline has occurred during global economic growth.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia in the U.K. and the Global Carbon Project said that global carbon emissions increased by 0.6 percent last year and could decline by as much as 0.6 percent this year to 35.7 gigatonnes. Global carbon emissions rose by an average of 2.4 percent annually from 2004 to 2013, according to Reuters.
The decline was largely attributed to reduced coal use in China – which continued to be the world leader in emissions, responsible for 27 percent of the total – and a faster growth in renewables, with wind and solar capacities achieving record increases in 2014, according to the study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change and presented at COP21 in Paris.
"In 2014, more than half of new energy needs in China were met from non-fossil fuel sources, such as hydro, nuclear, wind and solar power," said Pep Canadell of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
Researchers said that they expect the stall to be temporary and for emissions to increase again as emerging economies such as India continue to develop and move forward with plans to double the burning of coal in power plants, according to the BBC. Separate reports, including one from the World Meteoroligical Organization, show record concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which could soon exacerbate climate change.
"It is unlikely that emissions have peaked for good. This is because energy needs for growing economies still rely primarily on coal, and emissions decreases in some industrial countries are still modest at best," said Corinne Le Quéré, the director of the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia, according to The Hill.
The research comes as world leaders conduct climate talks in Le Bourget, Paris, hoping to reach a deal this week that commits nearly every country in the world to cutting carbon emissions. By 2025, the United States has promised a 26 percent to 28 percent reduction from 2005 levels.
