Oil Giant BP: World Carbon Emissions Stopped Growing Last Year

Carbon emissions apparently had stopped increasing last year as the world chose renewable and sustainable energy over controversial, non-renewable coal, a recent study shows.

The study, conducted by oil giant BP, showed that China overtook Germany and the US as the largest generator of solar and in driving down emissions. The results, however, came with a warning that the improvement may not last.

In 2015, solar capacity grew by 32.6% while wind power by 17.4%. Additionally, The U.K.'s renewable energy capacity grew by 4.8%, while Germany had 10.9%, and the U.S. by 19.7%.

Though fingers point to structural campaigns such as pushing for low carbon power and sustainable energy as the main cause of this occurrence, cyclical factors such as the shrinkage of the most energy-intensive parts of China in the next years could also be put into consideration. BP chief economist Spencer Dale confirms this, also adding that the resolve of the world's nations in the recent Paris climate change conference could result into increasing policies aimed at a paradigm shift of the world's fuel -mix to cleaner fuels and sustainable energy.

Dale also defended his own company's involvement in oil and gas, saying that BP is slowly shifting from oil to favouring gas which emits less emissions and is friendlier to the environment.

BP is also questioning the recent International Energy Agency CO2 emissions report that showed flat emissions in 2014 and 2015, saying that it did not consider numbers that grew later on with regard to the carbon output of China to higher grade coal that the republic had been burning.

Coal consumption worldwide dropped by 1.8% last year even with the price plummeting by 20%, a clear sign of the world's increasing awareness and more informed choice towards sustainable, renewable energy sources.