Carbon dioxide CO2 emissions in Carbon Free Zone world

Carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide - CO2)

Main article: Carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide - CO2)

2024: The world's first commercial carbon dioxide storage facility opened. It traps CO2 and cleans the air

In early October 2024, a consortium of oil companies backed by the Norwegian government launched the world's first commercial carbon dioxide storage project called Northern Lights. The goal of the project is to capture CO2 emissions from industrial sources across Europe and collect them deep beneath the seabed in geological reservoirs to clear the air. The construction of a new CO2 storage facility is 80% subsidized by the Norwegian government. Read more here.

2023: China and the United States are leaders in polluting the Earth with emissions

In 2023, China became the leader in air pollution with greenhouse gases on a global scale. This country accounted for 30.1% of the total volume of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent that entered the atmosphere. Such data are provided in a study by Statista, the results of which TAdviser got acquainted with at the end of October 2024.

According to estimates, in 2023, global greenhouse gas emissions amounted to about 53 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). Thus, China is responsible for 15.95 billion tons. The second largest country in terms of Earth pollution is the United States with a share of 11.3%, and India closes the top three with 7.8%. Thus, these three states generate almost half of all greenhouse gases.

The fourth position in the Statista rating is occupied by 27 countries of the European Union with a total contribution to global pollution at the level of 6.1%. On the fifth line is Russia with a 5% share, followed by Brazil with 2.5%.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) notes, air pollution is one of the most serious environmental threats to human health. Through measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, countries can reduce the burden of diseases such as stroke, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and chronic or acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. Moreover, residents of low or middle-income countries bear a disproportionate burden of diseases caused by air pollution: such areas account for 89% of premature deaths (as of 2019). Against this background, China announced its intention to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by key industries by an amount equivalent to about 1% of the national figure for 2023.^[1]

2022: A.P. Moller-Maersk announces plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040

A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, one of the world's largest oil consumers, is ramping up plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions after environmentally friendly alternatives were found to refuel ships. Read more here.

2021

Greenhouse gas emissions in Europe

In the third quarter of 2021, greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union economy amounted to 881 million tons. Eurostat published such data in February 2022. The "dirtiest" country in Europe was Bulgaria.

Greenhouse gas emissions by the European Union (EU) economy in the third quarter of 2021 increased by 6% compared to the same quarter of 2020. This increase is largely due to the effect of economic recovery after a sharp decrease in activity due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). In the third quarter of 2021, the sectors of the economy responsible for the largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions were manufacturing 23%, electricity supply 21%, as well as households 14% and agriculture 14%, according to a Eurostat study.

Emissions in the third quarter of 2021 decreased in Slovenia -2.6% compared to the same quarter of 2020, Luxembourg -2.3% and the Netherlands -1.6%. On the other hand, the largest increase in emissions was recorded in Bulgaria + 22.7%, Latvia + 16.2% and Greece + 13.1%. Despite the effect of the economic recovery between the third quarters of 2020 and 2021, the long-term trend in greenhouse gas emissions in the EU demonstrates a steady decline towards EU targets, experts explain.

In December 2021, EU politicians submitted a second package of proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions this decade and a target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve the goal, the European Union needs to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. According to the calculations of the international research project for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions Global Carbon Project, in 2021, carbon dioxide emissions worldwide increased by 4.9% compared to 2020 and amounted to 36.7 billion tons^[2] gases^[3]

Energy crisis and return to coal lead to record CO2 emissions

The energy crisis has led to record levels of carbon dioxide emissions as Europe burns more coal.

Carbon costs topped €70 for the first time in history as utilities turn to the dirtiest of fossil fuels.

The price for emitting a ton of carbon in the EU in 2021 by the end of November has more than doubled.

Russia entered the top three countries in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. The United States and China lead

In early October 2021, Carbon Brief published the results of an analysis of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions by countries since 1850. The study showed the states with the greatest historical responsibility for the climate emergency.

USA recognized as the largest polluter on the planet, Earth followed by and China. Russia Further, more exactly in terms of total volumes, countries are located:,,,,, and Brazil Indonesia. Germany India Great Britain Japan Canada Carbon dioxide has remained gas in the atmosphere for centuries, and the cumulative amount of emissions is closely CO2 related to the + 2 ° C warming that has already occurred in the world.

The data also shows the world was using 85% of its CO2 budget by October 2021, which offers a 50% chance of limiting warming to + 1.5C, the dangerous limit agreed in Paris in 2015. The US, Germany, the UK and Canada are the only one of the top 10 countries to commit to deeper emissions reductions ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). While the US has said it will double its contribution to climate change funding for developing countries, some believe it is too little from the world's largest economy.

Russia entered the top three countries in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, among the leaders are also the United States and China

Russia has made a new commitment, but it allows emissions to rise, and the Climate Action Tracking Group (CAT) rates it as critically insufficient compared to the Paris targets. China and India have yet to make any new promises, and Brazil, Indonesia and Japan have not improved on previous promises.

Carbon Brief's analysis shows that about 85% of combined U.S. and Chinese emissions are related to burning fossil fuels and 15% to deforestation, while Brazil and Indonesia have the opposite pattern. Indonesia has made some progress in ending tree deforestation, but deforestation in Brazil has accelerated under current President Jair Bolsonaro.

The United States was the largest cumulative pollutant from 1850 to October 7, 2021, which remains the case. Russia was the second largest polluter until 2007, when its emissions surpassed China, whose emissions began to rise rapidly from 1970. The UK was the third largest polluter during the period from 1870 until 1970, and after it was overtaken by Brazil.

Carbon Brief's analysis used data from a carbon dioxide information and think tank, the Global Carbon Project, Carbon Monitor and research on emissions from deforestation and land use change. The analysis begins in 1850, to which there is little reliable data, so it does not include emissions from deforestation that occurred before 1850. The analysis takes into account changes in state borders over time, but does not attribute emissions from previously colonized countries to the colonizing country.^[4]

By 2050, carbon neutrality pledged to reach 66 countries, including the world's leading economies

Achieving carbon neutrality, or the Net Zero scenario, today is almost the most powerful global trend, promising to fundamentally rebuild the global economy. For Russia, it can turn, if not a disaster, then extremely serious Carbon-free challenges^[5].

Threat at a cost of trillions

The main challenge that the Russian economy will almost inevitably face due to the energy transition remains a critical decline in resource exports. The latter promises to be most tangible if carbon neutrality is actually achieved by 2050. Then energy export may fall by $192 billion, according to Sberbank. At the same time, domestic fuel production may decrease by 72% in terms of oil and gas condensate, thermal coal - by 90%, gas production may fall by 52%, said the head of Sberbank German Gref.

This will inevitably result in a reduction in the revenues of the Russian budget. At the end of 2020, we recall that the share of oil and gas budget revenues amounted to about 28%. As German Gref specified, by 2035 the country may miss about 5 trillion rubles. A scenario of a delayed energy transition by 2070 may be less painful. In this case, budget losses could amount to about 5.5 trillion by 2035.

Revenues will inevitably fall

According to the results of pandemic 2020, real incomes of the population decreased by 3.5%, more than 19 million Russians below the poverty line, Rosstat estimated. The global energy transition promises to accelerate the fall. According to Sberbank estimates, if carbon neutrality is achieved by 2050, they may decrease up to 14% in 15 years. If the latter is achieved later, by 2070, the fall can also not be avoided: by 2035, revenues will be less by about 9%, which is also significant.

The problem of occupation, primarily in the oil-producing and coal territories of the country, risks aggravating. So, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 15 thousand people may lose their jobs, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - 43 thousand, in the Kemerovo region - 65 thousand employees (and these are only estimates for industries directly related to the production of energy resources). At the same time, we are talking about regions that still remain prosperous in terms of budget revenues.

A blow to investment

The global energy transition will certainly happen. However, the main question is: how and when will it happen? But with any of the options, the transition to new power will not be quick, including for economic reasons, because it will require significant financial investments (according to Sberbank estimates, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 will cost $140 million). Also, there is no absolute technological readiness for it yet. This means that different energy structures will coexist in any case, and for a very long time.

2020

Telecom companies began to emit twice as much CO2 as aviation

At the end of June 2021, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) published a study according to which telecommunications operators emit twice as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as aviation ones. The former account for about 3-4% of emissions.

As RBC writes with reference to the BCG report, CO2 emissions from telecom operators are growing amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, due to which there was an increased demand for digital communications, "warmed up by a massive transition to remote work formats."

Telecom companies began to emit twice as much CO2 as aviation

In this regard, specialized companies "began to consume more energy than ever before." According to Vladislav Butenko, head of TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) practice at BCG outside the CIS, in 2020 the volume of traffic consumption in Russia increased by almost 40%, in the next years global data consumption will grow by 60% annually - only data centers by 2030 will consume up to 8% of world electricity.

The authors of the report noted that the operators themselves account for 1.6% of emissions, and up to 90% are formed by their partners along the entire chain - from the purchase of raw materials to disposal. Analysts called on telecom companies to "take responsibility for such emissions" and start demanding more transparency and sustainability from suppliers. However, so far telecom operators do not have uniform standards and a common policy on this issue.

According to experts, telecommunications companies can reduce the negative effect in several ways. Among them - the transition to fifth generation technologies (5G), optimization of cooling and digital innovations in data centers, the transition to renewable energy sources.

Before the pandemic, the industry was not under as much scrutiny from society and the state in terms of its impact on the environment as aviation... In this new digital reality, which will not go anywhere, telecommunications companies will have to rethink their influence on the environment, says Vladislav[6]

Forecast to reduce emissions by 8% due to COVID-19 pandemic

According to the forecast of the International Energy Agency (IEA) for September 2020, world CO2 emissions by the end of 2020 will decrease by 8% compared to last year - that is, they will fall to the level last recorded 10 years ago. Such a positive forecast, however, is explained not so much by an increase in electricity generation from renewable sources as by the negative impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis on global industrial production and a corresponding decrease in harmful industrial emissions.

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