As recently as five years ago, this was widely said to be impossible. But it turned out to not even be that hard, considering. (This is per capita, but still very positive.)
As recently as five years ago, this was widely said to be impossible. But it turned out to not even be that hard, considering. (This is per capita, but still very positive.)
Emissions are still growing in absolute amounts, the only measure that counts. Cooking the books isn’t going to solve the problem and neither will disingenuous rhetoric.
I strongly disagree on two fronts. First, for the United States, at least, that is not even true. Absolute emissions have declined.
Numbers through 2023 can also be seen here.
The Eurozone has decreased absolute emissions even more.
China (by far the dominant emitter, see here) is still increasing emissions and that is not a good thing, but I expect that to reverse in 4-7 years as they get more nukes and renewables spooled up.
Decreasing per capita emissions means that as population growth slows and reverses that absolute emissions will fall.
This chart from the same source showing ‘Total greenhouse gas emissions’ for the world as a whole appears to show a peak at current levels, bouncing back after the pandemic:
https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions
Yes, for now total global emissions are increasing (mainly due to China and India). I’d expect that to continue for the next 7-10 years and then start falling overall (not just per capita) globally.