A group of US economists has stated that China is emitting more carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously thought, which will hinder global efforts to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gases. China is the second-largest emitter of CO2 in the world, and some studies suggest it may have surpassed the United States in emissions last year. This report may increase pressure on China to commit to binding emission reductions, a step it has so far resisted. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and UC San Diego have projected that China's CO2 emissions will increase by at least 11 percent annually from 2004 to 2010, a much higher rate than previous estimates, including those used by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The article is being released at a time when energy and environment ministers from the top 20 greenhouse gas emitting countries are set to gather in Japan to discuss climate change, clean energy, and sustainable development. The G20 nations, including major polluters like the United States and China, emit the majority of the world's greenhouse gases. There is increasing pressure on these countries to come to an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions, the main gas responsible for global warming. A report in a journal by U.S. researchers predicts a significant increase in CO2 emissions in China by 2010, which would outweigh the carbon emissions reductions pledged by developed countries under the Kyoto Protocol. China is not required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2008-12 under the Kyoto agreement. However, they participated in talks in Bali with nearly 190 other nations to develop a new global emissions-fighting pact to replace Kyoto starting in 2013. Researchers used pollution and waste gas emissions data to analyze China's CO2 emissions up to 2004. Despite expectations that emissions would slow as income increased, the growth rate of emissions has exceeded predictions, making it more difficult to stabilize atmospheric CO2 levels. According to the report, one of the issues was the decision to allow provinces more control over the construction of power plants after 2000. Richard Carson, a professor of economics at UC San Diego, stated that wealthier coastal provinces built modern power plants while poorer interior provinces used outdated Soviet technology. Carson also mentioned that these power plants are meant to last for several decades, locking China into a high emissions trajectory. The forecast takes into account the fact that many provinces are now stuck with inefficient and polluting power plants.