Paris deal failing? Global emissions up 2% despite U.S. drop; Chinese pollution skyrockets

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Washington Times

The Paris climate pact is off to a rocky start due to a huge increase in Chinese pollution this year, researchers said Monday in a report that finds U.S. emissions are still dropping despite President Trump’s decision to pull the nation from the global agreement.
Several studies released by the Global Carbon Project and presented Monday at a United Nations climate conference in Germany say that worldwide carbon emissions are projected to rise about 2 percent in 2017 after they’d been flat for three years, according to preliminary estimates of this year’s data.
The culprit, the data show, is China, which had kept its emissions in check in recent years but now is seeing a massive uptick in pollution. Under the Paris pact, China agreed to cap its emissions by 2030, meaning it’s free to ramp up pollution between now and then.
China’s uptick in 2017, which comes after a 1 percent drop in 2015 and flat emissions last year, largely is due to the country’s increased use of fossil fuels.
More broadly, researchers say the data show the Paris agreement so far is not working as intended.