Erica blog

China, India CO2 Emissions Offset Decreases In US, UK, Japan

Carbon emissions from emerging countries China and India offset slight reductions in 2009, from industrialized nations like the U.S., U.K. and Japan.

Inreported.

Emissions fell in most developed countries: Japan's emissions fell by 11.8 percent, the U.S. by 6.9 percent, the U.K. by 8.6 percent and Germany by seven percent.

In contrast, emissions rose 8 percent in China, 6.2 percent in India and 1.4 percent in South Korea, AFP reported.

"This is because the drop in world gross domestic product was less than anticipated and the carbon intensity of world GDP, which is the amount of CO2 released per unit of GDP, improved by only 0.7 percent in 2009 -- well below its long-term average of 1.7 percent."

In another interview with , Friedlingstein said the world was on track to return to last decade's emissions, which were around three percent a year.

"Probably, we'll be back on the track of the previous decade, 2009 having been a small blip," he said.

The disturbing results were published a week before the UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico.