 emissions, when we need a rapid decline. 'There are some positive signs, but leaders meeting at Cop27 will have to take meaningful action){kind=link}
Global carbon emissions in 2022 remain at record highs, with no sign of the falls needed to curb dangerous climate change, scientists have warned.
If the world continues with current levels of emissions, there is a 50% chance that global temperature rises will hit 1.5C – a threshold beyond which the worst impacts of climate change are expected – in nine years, they said.
Emissions would have to fall at rates comparable to 2020 – when Covid-19 restrictions shut down transport, industry and economic activities – every year to keep temperature rises to 1.5C in the long term, the experts say.
But carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels has risen 1% on 2021 levels, the analysis from the Global Carbon Project says, and is now slightly above the record levels seen in 2019.
The increase in carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, including cement production, is due to the ongoing recovery from the pandemic and the energy crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine, the researchers said.