Global CO2 emissions up 3% in 2011

PARIS – After a 1-percent decline in 2009 and an unprecedented 5-percent surge in 2010, global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) increased by 3 percent in 2011, to 34 billion tons, according to the annual report 'Trends in global CO₂ emissions" by the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL).

The 3-percent increase in global CO₂ emissions in 2011 is above the past decade's average annual increase of 2.7 percent, outlined JRC in its latest report. The top emitters contributing to the 34 billion tones of CO₂ emitted globally in 2011 are: China (29 percent), the United States (16 percent), the European Union (11 percent), India (6 percent), the Russian Federation (5 percent) and Japan (4 percent).

In Europe, CO₂ emissions decreased by 3 percent, to 3.8 billion tones, and in the United States by 2 percent, to 5.4 billion tones, in 2011.