Baku: The Global Carbon Budget (GCB) released at the ongoing COP29 summit has raised apprehensions about the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increasing this year when countries have been negotiating for funds to tackle the climate change impact.
The GCB has projected CO2 emissions in 2034 to be a whopping 41.6 billion tonnes, more than the figure of 40.6 billion tonnes last year. This includes CO2 emissions of 37.4 billion tonnes from fossil fuels and the rest from land-use change (deforestation). With over 40 billion tonnes released each year at present, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise and contributes further to global warming.
However, the latest update from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) indicated that 2024 is the hottest year, with temperatures soaring 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era. It expressed concern about the state of the global climate system, with record-high atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations being observed in 2023, and 2024 being on track to be the hottest year on record.
Meanwhile, over 30 countries have endorsed the COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste, including eight of the 10 largest emitters of methane from organic wastes. Countries have committed to setting up sectoral targets on food waste shortly.
During the presidential meeting of COP29 on Friday, countries like the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and the UAE, endorsed the declaration. This comes after the COP28 President launched the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, which was signed by 50 industries to achieve near-zero upstream methane emissions last year in Dubai.
“COP28 focused on methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector and COP29 is focusing on waste,” Rick Duke, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, United States said at the presidency event held earlier in the day, adding that there was an opportunity for the COP30 presidency Brazil to announce a pledge targeting methane emissions from the agricultural sector.
Methane is responsible for a third of the net warming since the pre-industrial era. The waste sector releases methane when organic wastes — food and yard waste, paper, cardboard, wood, and bodily wastes — break down in the oxygen-free environment found in landfills, dumpsites, and wastewater facilities around the world.
The waste sector contributes roughly 20 percent of anthropogenic methane emissions.
