India Among Biggest Emitters Of Greenhouse Gases: Study

In the United States, the world's No. 2 emitter, CO2 emissions fell by 3.7 per cent in 2012, with those from coal decreasing by 12 percent as the country turned to cleaner shale gas.

Emissions by the 28-nation European Union (EU) fell by 1.3 percent, but emissions from coal grew 3.0 per cent.

Per capita emission is one of the biggest issues in the climate-change arena. Developing countries like India and China have said rich nations should bear most of the burden for warming, as they initiated the problem and their emissions per person are much higher than those of poorer economies.

The U.S. is still the highest emitter per person at 16 tonnes. By comparison an Indian's carbon footprint is only 1.8 tonnes.

"Emissions must fall substantially and rapidly if we are to limit global climate change to below two degrees," Corinne Le Quere of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research said.

The targeted emission level rise of 2.1 percent set for 2013 means burning of fossil fuels just 61 percent above the 1990 levels, the baseline year for the Kyoto Protocol, the study said.

Cumulative CO2 emissions since 1870 is set to reach 2015 billion tonnes by 2013, with 70 percent caused by burning fossil fuels and 30 per cent from deforestation and other land use changes.

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