In what is seen by climate experts to be a positive development by climate experts, new data revealed that the rate of increase in carbon emissions has slowed down for the second year in a row.
According to the study done by the University of East Anglia of Britain and the Global Carbon Project, the rate of global carbon emissions has increased by only 0.6 percent. This is a significant drop from the annual rate of increase of 2.4 percent from 2004 to 2013. Researchers predict that, if the trend continues, the rate will be further slowed down by another 0.6 percent, Reuters reported.
"These figures are certainly not typical of the growth trajectory seen since 2000 where the annual growth in emissions was between 2 and 3 percent," said UEA's Corinne Le Quéré, who is one of the authors of the study published in the journals Nature Climate Change and Earth System Science Data.
Scientists attributed the decline to the slowing of China's economy. China has been ranked as the world's leading emission source, releasing 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2014 and accounting for more than 25 percent of the total global emissions.
The rapid growth of the Chinese economy at the turn of the century was also accompanied by a dramatic increase in fossil fuel consumption, causing its emissions to rise at a rate of 7 percent a year.
The country has embarked in developing cleaner energy alternatives in the last few years. From 2013 to 2014, more than 50 percent of the increase in its primary energy consumption was taken from non-fossil fuel sources.
The United States was ranked second, accounting for 15 percent of the total, equivalent to 5.6 billion tonnes. Meanwhile, the European Union and India ranked third and fourth, with 10 percent (3.4 billion tonnes) and 7 percent (2.6 billion tonnes) respectively, Sydney Morning Herald reported.
However, while she was optimistic about the development, Le Quéré was also cautious. She points out that emissions need to be cut to near zero to stave off the current trend of a warming climate. Scientists predict a 2-degree rise in average global temperatures.
The report came out in the midst of the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Paris, France.