AMSTERDAM (AP) -- A leading climate change monitor says global carbon dioxide emissions held steady last year, as recession slowed industrial activities in rich countries while growth in China and India made up for the decline.
The Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency says last year was the first since 1992 that registered no growth in carbon emissions from fossil fuels, cement production and the chemical industry, the main sources of greenhouse gases.
It said emissions shrank in the leading industrial countries by 7 percent, or 800 million tons. That was compensated by a 9 percent increase in China and 6 percent in India.
It was based on data from the oil company BP, the International Energy Agency and the European Commission's Joint Research Center.
