CO2 emission is a major cause of climate change. It is the reason behind the increase in fires, flooding and extreme weather conditions. It is a major reason behind the increase in repository diseases and lung cancer.

 

Monitoring the CO2 Emissions in the world for the past 30 years, we can easily notice the significant growth year over year. The CO2 emission in the world has increased from 20.6M kt in 1990 to 34.3M kt in 2019, that is an increase of 70%. China has been top contributor to that since 2005, where its CO2 emission grew from 2.17M kt in 1990 to 10.7M kt in 2017, an increase of 409%. The main jump in the emission started in 2002, mainly after China joined the WTO and began expanding its manufacturing.

 

The world, and specially China, should implement and force stricter rules to control and reduce the CO2 emissions. The main action plan should start by moving towards renewable energy for electricity generation, like solar and wind power systems. As for the existing power plants, the countries should switch from the pollutant coal plants to less pollutant resources like gas-based plants. Furthermore, the countries should implement rules to encourage less electricity usage by industries and households by forcing progressive tax on consumption. They should also encourage the switch to less pollutant vehicles like electric vehicles.

 

Such measures have proved to be very effective in controlling and reducing the CO2 emission. This has been validated by the US, where it managed to keep its CO2 emission almost stable at 5M kt since 1990. Actually, it has decreased from 5.77M kt, its peak in 2000, to 4.8M kt in 2019, a decrease of 16.8%. The US have obligated states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to CAP their CO2 emissions from the power sector.

 

We do recommend countries to follow strict measures to CAP the CO2 emissions before it is too late. Policies like the RGGI in the US has been proven effective. Hopefully measures like China’s 2030 plan can work as well. Moving to renewable energy can be the base for this change. We do hope that we all work together to help save the planet.