Those who claimed China would lead on climate change after Trump pulled out of Paris deal get it backwards

Washington Times:
Two years after nearly every nation on earth signed the landmark Paris climate accord, researchers say the deal is failing to live up to its mission as China drives a spike in global carbon emissions, reversing years of steady decline.

The sobering news comes as world leaders gather in Germany for a high-level climate summit designed to marshal support for the Paris agreement and to encourage countries to make even more ambitious commitments to cut their own pollution.

Other nations have been critical of President Trump for announcing over the summer that the U.S. would pull out of the deal, but data released Monday show that American emissions are still dropping while those of China and other countries are back on the rise.

Several studies released by the Global Carbon Project say worldwide carbon emissions are projected to jump about 2 percent this year after staying flat for three years, according to preliminary estimates.

The culprit, the data show, is China, which has kept its emissions in check in recent years but now shows a massive rise in pollution. Under the Paris pact, China agreed to cap its emissions by 2030, meaning it is still free to increase pollution.
...

“Global commitments made in Paris in 2015 to reduce emissions are still not being matched by actions,” said Glen Peters, a research director at Cicero’s Center for International Climate Research.
...

Chinese emissions are projected to rise by 3.5 percent this year, according to the study. China is the world’s largest polluter and accounts for nearly 30 percent of all worldwide carbon emissions.

India’s emissions also are expected to rise by 2 percent, though that is a much smaller increase than in recent years.

U.S. emissions, by contrast, are projected to decline by 0.4 percent this year. That is less of a decline than in recent years, research shows, but still underscores that technological advancements and a market shift away from coal in America are having tangible effects.
...
The Paris agreement looks like another bad deal made by teh Kerry-Obama team.  Trump was right that it gave China and India an advantage.  I am not surprised that other countries are not meeting their commitments, although the deal was structured to give China until 2030 to start reducing their emissions.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains