News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian What is a global carbon budget and how is it prepared?

Looking at historical trends, emissions in the years 2010-2019 declined an average of 1.2% per year, in contrast to the increasing rates in the 2000s (3.0% per year). [...] Are there any changes in the types of data presented in this year’s report? The main changes in this year’s report are the inclusion of data for 2019 and a projection of the global carbon budget for 2020; the inclusion of gross carbon fluxes associated with land-use changes – all land-change activities gains and losses such as decaying wood material left on site after clea. [...] The peak of the decrease in emissions in 2020 occurred in the first half of April, when lockdown measures related to travel restrictions and other actions resulted in lower energy-related emissions. [...] The report suggests that the atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased in 2020, despite the significant decline in emissions in 2020. [...] Therefore, the carbon policies on a global scale clearly must be tightened to control long-term growth in emissions and to start bringing global emissions down to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.