China produces as much CO2 per person as Europe

China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) levels soared in 2011, putting its per capita emissions on a par for the first time with those of Europe, while global levels of the greenhouse gas hit another all-time high, a report released last Wednesday said.

Global carbon dioxide emissions increased by three per cent

Last year, China’s CO2 emissions rose by 9.0 per cent, meaning the country produced the equivalent of 7.2 tonnes of the gas for each resident, according to the report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

The 27-nation EU produced 7.5 tonnes of CO2 per person, while the US remained one of the world’s top CO2 emitters, with 17.3 tonnes per resident in 2011.

China and other fast-growing economies like India fear emissions curbs would slow their development, so have sought concessions in international climate deals.

They argue that as developing nations with lower per capita emissions than the industrialised world, they should not be subject to the same CO2 restrictions as advanced economies.

Overall, global CO2 emissions increased by three per cent to reach a record level of 34 billion tonnes, the report said.

The rise is a similar level to the 10-year average of 2.7 per cent. Levels dipped slightly in 2008 due to the onset of the global economic crisis but bounced back to surge by five per cent in 2010.

Still, CO2 emissions from the US and Japan dropped about two percent last year, thanks largely to weak economic conditions, mild winters and high oil prices.

The surge in China’s CO2 emissions was driven mainly by its continued high economic growth rate and the accompanying thirst for fossil fuels, the report said. China’s coal imports surged by 10 per cent, making it the world’s largest coal importer.

The UN has adopted a target of limiting global warming to 2.0º Celsius by 2050.

Scientists think this is feasible as long as cumulative CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2050 do not exceed 1,000 to 1,500 billion tonnes.

Since 2000, human activities have led to about 420 billion tonnes of CO2 being sent into the atmosphere, and on current trends the ceiling will be breached “within the next two decades,” the report warned.

In volume terms, China and the US are the no. 1 and no. 2 world emitters, accounting for 29 and 16 per cent of global CO2, it said. They are followed by the EU (11 per cent), India (six per cent), Russia (five per cent) and Japan (four per cent).