World leaders gather in Baku to discuss the climate crisis, and funding. We break down figures on climate change in eight key graphs.
The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) began in Baku, Azerbaijan on November 11.
World leaders, climate experts, and campaigners will engage in discussions on climate crisis until November 22.
At the heart of the discussions in Baku is the climate finance goal, which seeks to establish a target for financial support directed towards developing countries — funding considered essential for helping these nations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Preliminary assessment indicate that 2024 will almost certainly be the hottest year on record, beating the high set in 2023.
And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said last week.
The European Union, alongside major historical emitters like the US and UK, has cut greenhouse gas emissions by about one-third since 1990.
Despite this, global CO2 emissions have steadily increased from 22.6 million metric tonnes (Mton) in 1990 to 39.02 Mton in 2023, according to UN data.
China’s emissions have risen to 13.2 Mton in 2023, reflecting the country’s growing contribution to global emissions.
Large countries like China, the US, and India are the biggest total CO2 emitters, but nations on the Arabian Peninsula lead in per-capita emissions.
European Union data shows that Qatar has the highest per-person emissions, followed by Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Many countries have longer-term, global targets of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
In 2023, the EU had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 34 per cent from 1990 levels. However, it is still far from its goal of climate neutrality by 2050.
In the EU, every sector saw a reduction in GHG emissions in 2023 compared to 2022.
The power sector experienced the most significant decline, with emissions dropping by 20.1%. The industrial combustion and processes sector followed closely, with emissions falling by 8.1% from the previous year.
Data shows that fossil fuels remain a dominant energy source in most countries, though there is a noticeable rise in renewable energy usage across the globe, particularly in regions like Europe, the United States, and China.
ADVERTISEMENTIn the first six months of 2024, half of the EU’s electricity came from renewable sources, outperforming fossil fuels, according to the European Commission.
In 2023, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international body for assessment of climate change, outlined five potential future scenarios to model global temperature changes up to 2100, based on various factors like population growth and CO2 emissions.
The most hopeful scenario, SSP1-1.9, predicts a rise of just 1.4°C, achieved through significant emission reductions.
In contrast, if greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels and net zero is not reached by 2100, global temperatures could increase by more than 2°C, as projected by SSP2-4.5.
ADVERTISEMENTIn the most alarming scenario, SSP5-8.5, global temperatures could soar by 4.4°C on average, driven by a doubling of current emission levels.