World emissions increase, renewables mitigate An estimated
cumulative global total of 420 billion tonnes of CO2 were
emitted between 2000 and 2011 due to human activities, including
deforestation. The rise in average global temperature to 2
degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels - the target
internationally adopted in UN climate negotiations - is possible
only if cumulative CO2 emissions in the period 2000-2050 do not
exceed 1,000 to 1,500 billion tonnes. If the current global
trend of increasing CO2 emissions continues, cumulative
emissions will surpass this limit within the next two decades.
"Fortunately, this trend is being mitigated by the expansion of
renewable energy supplies, especially solar and wind energy and
biofuels," says the report released by the European Commission's
Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency (PBL). The global share of these so-called
modern renewables, which exclude hydropower, is growing at an
accelerated speed and quadrupled from 19