Daily global CO2 emissions ‘cut to 2006 levels’ during height of coronavirus crisis

May 20, 2020

Sun shines through steam rising from chimneys of a power plant in Moscow, Russia November 13, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC2AAD9QDH08

The effect the pandemic has had on emissions has been significant. Image: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Simon Evans

Policy Editor, Carbon Brief

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Share of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement due to each of six sectors of the economy. Image: Le Queré et al. (2020)/Chart by Carbon Brief

Change in sectoral “activity” under the highest level of coronavirus confinement, percent, relative to an average day in 2019. Each dot represents a single datapoint and open circles show the average. Image: Le Queré et al. (2020)

Estimated daily global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement, million tonnes (MtCO2 per day). The left panel shows emissions from 1970-2020 and the right panel shows the first four months of 2020. Image: Le Queré et al. (2020)

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