Climate: Worldwide CO2 emissions climb 1.3% to new record level in 2012

- Global increase in CO2 emissions tempered by growth in renewable energies and shale gas production in U.S.

Muenster - The global CO2 emissions have reached a new record level for the third time in a row in 2012. The 34.43 billion tonnes (2011: ca. 33.99 billion tonnes) of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere in the past year has never before been matched, reported IWR, a german renewable energy institute, located in Muenster. As a result of the rise in 2012, CO2 emission levels are now for the first time more than 50 per cent higher than the levels measured in 1990 (22.7 billion tonnes), the base year for the Kyoto Protocol.

Heading the list of the most carbon intensive countries worldwide in 2012 was China with a volume of 9.1 billion tonnes of emitted CO2 (2011: 8.9 billion tonnes). This amounts to levels 57 per cent higher than those generated in the USA, 5.8 billion tonnes (2011: 6.0 billion tonnes), the world´s second most prolific emitter of CO2 in 2012. India ranked third with 1.8 billion tonnes (2011: 1.79 billion tonnes), followed by Russia with 1.7 billion tonnes (2011: 1.67 billion tonnes) and Japan with 1.4 billion tonnes (2011: 1.3 billion tonnes). Germany was once again situated sixth globally with greenhouse gas emissions totalling 816 million tonnes (2011: 804 million tonnes).

“The upsurge in the usage of shale gas in the USA and the worldwide expansion of renewable energy technologies considerably curbed the increase in CO2 emission levels in 2012”, said IWR Director Dr. Norbert Allnoch. Were it not for these effects, the rise in greenhouse gas emissions could have reached levels 400-500 million tonnes higher. When it comes to the sum of investment in renewable energy technologies, China, in which around 70 billion euros in investments were undertaken, led with a considerable edge on the USA (25 billion euros), Germany (20 billion euros) and Italy (11 billion euros). In light of the continued rise in CO2 emissions, IWR is advocating a paradigm shift with respect to the development of climate protection instruments.

Allnoch: “A successful climate protection strategy promotes a global competition for investment in green technologies instead of an endless political struggle over emission limits.\" With the CERINA-Plan (CO2-Emissions and Renewable Investment Action Plan), first put forth by IWR in 2009, an approach has been developed, which aims at pegging the amount of green investment in a country to the increase in its emission levels. A table detailing the necessary investment totals for all countries required to stabilise global emissions is published at https://www.cerina.org.


Muenster, 8 November 2013


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Dr. Norbert Allnoch, International Economic Platform for Renewable
Energies (IWR).

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