Covid lockdowns prompt record drop in emissions this year – but rapid ‘rebound’ expected
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are expected to fall by 2.4 billion tonnes from 2019 to 2020, a new study has found – an unprecedented annual decline driven by lockdowns put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19. Professor Corinne Le Quéré FRS, report author and climate scientist at the University of East Anglia, told a press briefing: “Towards the end of 2020, what is clear is that emissions are edging back towards 2019 levels already. What is more difficult to say is exactly what the size of the rebound will be in 2021, whether we will come back to 2019 levels or perhaps go even higher.” The decline in global emissions during lockdowns mostly stems from there being fewer cars on the road, and, to a lesser extent, from slowdowns in such industries as manufacturing and metal production, she said. Though emissions dipped in 2020, this is likely to make “virtually no difference” to global efforts to limit global warming to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels, which is the goal of the Paris Agreement, said study author Professor Pierre Friedlingstein, chair in mathematical modelling of climate systems at the University of Exeter.
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