This Report Card for Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions Is Not Encouraging
Background . The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued its assessment, “ Global Energy and CO 2 Status Report, 2017 ” (Report) on March 22, 2018. The IEA reviews aspects of global energy use and greenhouse gas emission rates annually. This schedule has become even more important since the Paris Climate Agreement among virtually all nations of the world was concluded, under the auspices of the United Nations-sponsored organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in December 2015. The essence of the Paris Agreement is first, setting the goal of keeping the global average increase in temperature, measured from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, under 2 ° C (3.8 °F), and second, having every nation individually commit voluntarily to embark on its own program to reduce annual emission rates for CO 2 to achieve the temperature objective. The emissions originate from humanity’s burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) to pro...