The energy crisis, the coming winter and the release of pent-up pandemic demand have sent nations scrambling to stockpile fossil fuels, a move that portends a rebound for global carbon dioxide emissions this year.
The trajectory poses a new threat to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5°Celsius. China, India and other developing economies are driving the demand for coal, but even the US is poised to increase its consumption of the dirtiest fossil fuel in almost a decade, according to a forecast from the International Energy Agency.
The world’s CO2 emissions peaked just prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, then in 2020 registered the biggest annual decrease since at least 1965, according to data from BP Plc.
