China and India helped to drive up global greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent between 1992 and 2002, fuelling the effects of climate change, the World Bank said Wednesday.
In its annual Little Green Data Book, the World Bank said industrialized nations, led by the US, continue to be the main offenders in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). But developing nations, particularly China and India, are producing an ever-greater share of CO2 emissions and so contributing to the trapping of heat-retaining gases in the Earths atmosphere.
– This reality shows us that we need to find creative ways to engage all major economies of the world to solve a global problem such as climate change, said World Bank Acting Vice-President (danskeren) Steen Jørgensen.
The report, released at a meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, said CO2 emissions worldwide topped 24 billion tons in 2002, the last year for which comprehensive data are available. This was 15 percent more than in 1992. The US contributed 24 percent of total emissions and the 12 nations of Europe’s euro-zone emitted 10 percent.
From 2000 to 2002, global CO2 emissions increased by 2,5 percent annually, and about two-thirds of that increase came from low- and middle-income countries.
China, which is already the second largest polluter behind the US, increased its emissions by 33 percent between 1992 and 2002. Indias emissions grew 57 percent in the same period. “This trend will likely continue as economic activity grows”, the World Bank report warned.
– All countries are vulnerable to climate change, said Warren Evans, the World Bank’s Environment Director adding: – But the poorest countries are the most exposed, and have the least means to adapt to it.
– Climate change may hamper efforts to reduce poverty in agriculture-dependent countries in Africa and low-lying coastal areas. Climate-proofing development initiatives is an urgent need in order to avoid human disasters, he said.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
