Global carbon emissions in the energy sector stalled in 2014, following a slowdown in China’s economic growth. According to new data released on Friday, March 13 by the International Energy Agency (IEA), emissions of carbon dioxide in the energy sector were flat in 2014, compared with the previous year. Previous pauses or falls in the quantity of global emissions were related to economic shocks, and 2014’s stall could be linked to the fact that China burnt less coal than expected last year. It is not yet possible to draw any conclusions from the figures regarding the reason of the pause, or to say whether this pause is likely to continue. In fact, the IEA noticed a global carbon dioxide output of 32.2bn tonnes in 2014 – unchanged from the previous year – and a global GDP rise by 3%, but the data are still preliminary and will have to be re-examined and confirmed in June. The UN Paris climate summit that will be held in December will represent an opportunity to reach an agreement on climate change, and by the end of March the governments of developed and developing countries’ major economies are expected to come up with proposals to limit their carbon emissions. On November 2014, the US and China announced their joint commitments under the UN process, and China has pledged that its emissions will peak by 2030; new data from the IEA, set to be published in June, will give an indication of whether China’s emissions could be expected to peak sooner than the 2030 deadline. The UK energy and climate secretary Ed Davey stated that the data show that green growth is achievable all over the world, but also highlighted the importance of a new global climate deal in order to keep cutting emissions. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Monday, 16 March 2015 (Source: Guardian)