Climate change: Global CO2 emissions must decrease tenfold, scientists warn

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions still need to decrease tenfold to avoid a climate emergency, scientists warn, despite a global fall in 2020 due to Covid-19. An international team of experts has performed a 'global stocktake' of humanity's progress towards the Paris Agreement – which aims to keep the global average temperature rise to well below 3.6ºF (2°C), compared to pre-industrial levels. They found global CO2 emissions fell by around 2.6 billion tonnes in 2020, a decrease of about 7 per cent from 2019 levels.  This fall – the largest decrease observed to date – was due to reduced human activity under the lockdowns intended to curb the spread of coronavirus.