For the first time in 5 years in advanced economies, carbon emissions will increase in 2018

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), this year there will be an increase in CO₂ emissions in countries with developed economies, despite the 5 year trend to reduce them.

Based on the latest energy data in the USA, EU and other advanced economies of the Asia-Pacific region, CO emissions have increased in energy production. This is due to the increased consumption of oil and gas, despite the decline in the use of coal. As a result, in these economies, the IEA predicts an increase in CO₂ emissions of 0.5% in 2018.

However, emissions growth (0.5%) is lower than economic growth (2.4%), and this is extremely important on a global scale when trying to fulfill the conditions of the Paris Agreement. Participating countries meeting at the Climate Change Conference (COP24) will summarize emission control data this week and next. In order to achieve climate goals, it is necessary that global carbon dioxide emissions, when producing energy, be as fast as possible reach their maximum values, and then abruptly decline.
')
The IEA also expects CO₂ emissions in emerging economies to be higher than last year. The full IEA report on energy and CO₂ will be published next March, but all indications indicate that global emissions are increasing due to an increase in energy consumption and an economic growth of 3.7%.

“Our data show that, despite the high growth of solar and wind energy, emissions in developed economies began to grow again, and this clearly demonstrates the need to introduce all technologies and energy efficiency,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA. “This reverse trend should be another warning for governments that are meeting this week at the Katowice Climate Conference. Increasing efforts are needed to develop renewable, nuclear energy, energy efficiency, and technology innovations, such as carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen storage. ”

Over the past 5 years, CO₂ emissions associated with energy production in developed countries have fallen by 3% or nearly 400 million tons. This was mainly due to the systematic reduction of coal consumption, the rapid growth of renewable energy sources, the distribution of equipment and technology with low energy consumption, and the transition to the use of gas instead of coal, especially in the US and the UK, as well as in other countries.

World demand for oil is steadily growing in 2018, global gas use is also growing strongly, mainly due to China’s policy to limit urban air pollution, but at the same time a huge amount of new coal-fired power plants are being built and opening up. The IEA expects that in 2018 this will lead to a global increase in CO₂ emissions. This growth will follow last year's growth of 1.6%, which completed a three-year period of stable emission rates for 2014–2016. According to the IEA Sustainable Development Plan, which is consistent with the objectives of the Paris Agreement on the reduction of air pollution and total access to energy, global emissions have decreased by more than 1% annually by 2025.