Even the near-total global shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic was not enough to meet the carbon reduction goals of the Paris Agreement.
While many believe that stopping travel and industry would 'fix' the climate, this study shows that the massive 2020 lockdowns only achieved a 4.5% emissions drop. This is far short of the 7.6% annual reduction required every year to hit 1.5°C targets, suggesting that individual behavioral change is virtually powerless compared to the need for structural energy overhauls.
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Carbon Emissions: A Sectoral Analysis of India and Global Trends Against the Paris Agreement Targets
SSRN · 6391818
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented contraction in global economic activity, producing a rare natural experiment for observing the relationship between human activity and carbon emissions. This paper examines sector-wise variation in CO2 emissions in India and globally during the pandemic year of 2020, using daily near-real-time data from the Carbon Monitor, and benchmarks observed changes against the 7.6% annual reduction target required under the Paris Climate Agreement to limit g