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China now accounts for a seventh of world carbon pollution: IEA
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  • PARIS (AFP) Dec 06, 2004
    China is now the world's second biggest polluter of carbon dioxide, accounting for a seventh of the total, after the United States, which emits nearly a quarter, the International Energy Agencysaid Monday.

    The IEA report, timed to coincide with a UN conference on climate change in Buenos Aires, confirmed the growing role of China and other developing countries in the worsening greenhouse-gas problem.

    Eighty percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution in 2002 was emitted by 22 countries, the IEA said.

    The biggest polluter by far was the United States, with 23.5 percent of the total, followed by China, with 13.6 percent.

    Afterwards came Russia (6.2 percent), Japan (five percent), Indiapercent), Germany (3.5 percent), Britain and Canada (2.2 percent each), South Korea (1.9 percent), Italy (1.8 percent) and France (1.6 percent).

    In 1990, China emitted 2.289 billion tonnes of CO2, the IEA said.

    In 2002, after experiencing growth of 204 percent in its gross domestic product (GDP) since 1990, Chinese CO2 pollution was 3.307 billion tonnes, an increase of 44.5 percent over the period.

    Excluding China, there was also a big increase in Asian CO2 output -- a rise of 81.3 percent, from 1.493 billion tonnes to 2.709 billion, from

    In 2002, global C02 emissions from fossil fuels rose sharply, by two percent, more than double the increase of the previous year, which was 0.8 percent.

    The IEA report, "C02 Emissions from Fuel Combustion," covers carbon dioxide pollution from the burning of fossil fuels, which accounts for about 80 percent of all greenhouse gas pollution.

    Other CO2 sources come from natural sources, such as volcanoes.

    Most of the remaining 20 percent of greenhouse gas pollution is accounted for by methane, a gas disgorged by biodegrading vegetation and farm animals.

    The report was issued as signatories of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gathered in the Argentine capital for an 11-day huddle to discuss the Kyoto Protocol, which takes effect from February 16.

    Kyoto is the cornerstone of UN efforts to tackle greenhouse gases, requiring participating industrialised countries to curb pollution by a 2008-2012 timetable.

    The United States walked away from Kyoto in 2001, arguing it would be too expensive to meet the treaty's commitments and branding the deal as unfair because countries like China and India, which have big populations and fast-growing economies, are not required to make targeted reductions.

    The United States experienced a rise of 16.7 percent in CO2 output from 1990-2002, from 4.843 billion tonnes to 5.652 billion, the IEA said.

    If it had stayed in Kyoto, it would have had to make a cut of seven percent compared with 1990 levels.

    Greenhouse gases are so called because they hanging in the atmosphere and trap heat from the Sun instead of letting it radiate safely into space.

    The phenomenon is gradually driving up Earth's surface temperatures, with a potentially irreversible effect on the climate system, scientists say.




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