Friday 3 June 2016

UK cut 27.7% emissions but still among top emitters

The UK reduced carbon emissions by 27.7% by 2014.

However, it is still among 20 countries emitting the largest amount of carbon in the world, according to new figures published by British Gas.

It stated the UK’s carbon footprint was 415.4 million metric tonnes two years ago due to reduced coal and gas use to generate electricity.

The installation of building insulation, vehicle fuel efficiency standards and changes to the economy’s structure contributed to the reduction too, added the report which includes data from the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research and the US Energy Information Administration.

The ‘Carbon Emissions Around the World’ report compared countries across all continents and their efforts to reduce carbon emissions since 1992.

Germany is the largest carbon emitter in Europe, with a carbon footprint of more than 760 million metric tonnes.

Georgia is the nation that decreased the most amount of carbon emissions during the same period, with a reduction of 68.5% to 6.5 million metric tonnes.

It is followed by Moldova and Ukraine with reductions of 62% and 61.2% respectively.

On the other hand, CO2 emissions have increased the most in Equatorial Guinea by more than 2,600% as the region previously lacked funds for sustainable energy.

China is the worst carbon emitter globally, accounting for more than 10,500 million metric tonnes of CO2 followed by the US where emissions increased by 6.1% to more than 5,300 million metric tonnes.