There are many ways to measure our progress to mitigate global warming. One of the surest is to ask whether economic growth, which has historically gone hand-in-hand with increased use of fossil fuels, is still linked to higher carbon emissions.
The answer for 2015 is “no,” according to a new report from the global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC). The world’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.1% last year, but carbon emissions remained flat. Better still, it’s the second year in a row that the two factors have remained “decoupled.”
“What we’ve seen in 2014-15 is a real step change in decarbonisation,” Jonathan Grant, PwC director of sustainability and climate change, told Climate Home. Full Story