. 2020 Oct 14;11(1):5172.

doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7.

Near-real-time monitoring of global CO₂ emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Zhu Liu¹, Philippe Ciais², Zhu Deng³, Ruixue Lei⁴, Steven J Davis⁵, Sha Feng⁴, Bo Zheng², Duo Cui³, Xinyu Dou³, Biqing Zhu³, Rui Guo³, Piyu Ke³, Taochun Sun³, Chenxi Lu³, Pan He³, Yuan Wang^{6

7}, Xu Yue⁸, Yilong Wang⁹, Yadong Lei¹⁰, Hao Zhou¹⁰, Zhaonan Cai¹¹, Yuhui Wu¹², Runtao Guo¹³, Tingxuan Han¹⁴, Jinjun Xue^{15

16

17}, Olivier Boucher¹⁸, Eulalie Boucher¹⁹, Frédéric Chevallier², Katsumasa Tanaka^{2

20}, Yiming Wei²¹, Haiwang Zhong²², Chongqing Kang²², Ning Zhang²³, Bin Chen²⁴, Fengming Xi²⁵, Miaomiao Liu²⁶, François-Marie Bréon², Yonglong Lu²⁷, Qiang Zhang³, Dabo Guan³, Peng Gong³, Daniel M Kammen²⁸, Kebin He¹², Hans Joachim Schellnhuber^{3

29}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. zhuliu@tsinghua.edu.cn.
² Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement LSCE, CEA CNRS UVSQ, Centre d'Etudes Orme de Merisiers, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
³ Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁵ Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, 3232, Croul Hall, Irvine, CA, USA.
⁶ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁸ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹⁰ Climate Change Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹² School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹³ School of Mathematical School, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹⁴ Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹⁵ Center of Hubei Cooperative Innovation for Emissions Trading System, Wuhan, China.
¹⁶ Faculty of Management and Economics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 13, Kunming, China.
¹⁷ Economic Research Centre of Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
¹⁸ Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université / CNRS, Paris, France.
¹⁹ Université Paris Dauphine, Place du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75016, Paris, France.
²⁰ Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan.
²¹ Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.
²² Department of Electrical Engineering, the State Key Lab of Control and Simulation of Power Systems and Generation Equipment, Institute for National Governance and Global Governance, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
²³ Institute of Blue and Green Development Shandong University, Weihai, China.
²⁴ School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
²⁵ Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China.
²⁶ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
²⁷ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology of Ministry of Education, College of Ecology and the Environment, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
²⁸ Energy and Resources Group and Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²⁹ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany.

PMID: 33057164
PMCID: PMC7560733
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7

Near-real-time monitoring of global CO₂ emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Zhu Liu et al. Nat Commun. 2020.

. 2020 Oct 14;11(1):5172.

doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. zhuliu@tsinghua.edu.cn.
² Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement LSCE, CEA CNRS UVSQ, Centre d'Etudes Orme de Merisiers, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
³ Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁵ Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, 3232, Croul Hall, Irvine, CA, USA.
⁶ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁸ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China.
⁹ Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹⁰ Climate Change Research Center, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹¹ Key Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹² School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹³ School of Mathematical School, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹⁴ Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹⁵ Center of Hubei Cooperative Innovation for Emissions Trading System, Wuhan, China.
¹⁶ Faculty of Management and Economics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 13, Kunming, China.
¹⁷ Economic Research Centre of Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
¹⁸ Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université / CNRS, Paris, France.
¹⁹ Université Paris Dauphine, Place du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 75016, Paris, France.
²⁰ Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan.
²¹ Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.
²² Department of Electrical Engineering, the State Key Lab of Control and Simulation of Power Systems and Generation Equipment, Institute for National Governance and Global Governance, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
²³ Institute of Blue and Green Development Shandong University, Weihai, China.
²⁴ School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
²⁵ Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China.
²⁶ State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
²⁷ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology of Ministry of Education, College of Ecology and the Environment, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
²⁸ Energy and Resources Group and Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²⁹ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany.

PMID: 33057164
PMCID: PMC7560733
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7

Erratum in

Author Correction: Near-real-time monitoring of global CO₂ emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liu Z, Ciais P, Deng Z, Lei R, Davis SJ, Feng S, Zheng B, Cui D, Dou X, Zhu B, Guo R, Ke P, Sun T, Lu C, He P, Wang Y, Yue X, Wang Y, Lei Y, Zhou H, Cai Z, Wu Y, Guo R, Han T, Xue J, Boucher O, Boucher E, Chevallier F, Tanaka K, Wei Y, Zhong H, Kang C, Zhang N, Chen B, Xi F, Liu M, Bréon FM, Lu Y, Zhang Q, Guan D, Gong P, Kammen DM, He K, Schellnhuber HJ. Liu Z, et al. Nat Commun. 2020 Dec 2;11(1):6292. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20254-5. Nat Commun. 2020. PMID: 33268773 Free PMC article.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting human activities, and in turn energy use and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Here we present daily estimates of country-level CO₂ emissions for different sectors based on near-real-time activity data. The key result is an abrupt 8.8% decrease in global CO₂ emissions (-1551 Mt CO₂) in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The magnitude of this decrease is larger than during previous economic downturns or World War II. The timing of emissions decreases corresponds to lockdown measures in each country. By July 1st, the pandemic's effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries, but substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the U.S. where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1. Effects of COVID-19 on global CO₂ emissions.**
a Daily CO₂ emissions in 2019 and 2020 (7-day running mean); b Global emissions aggregate different timing of effects in different regions (7-day running mean); c COVID-19 causes the largest annual decrease of CO₂ emission since 1900.

**Fig. 2. Daily CO₂ emissions for countries.**
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily CO₂ emissions globally and in each of 11 regions are reflected by the shaded differences between January 1st and June 30th of 2019 and 2020.

**Fig. 3. Sectoral effects of COVID-19 on CO₂ emissions.**
a Sector-specific effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on CO₂ emissions globally, shown as the 7-day running mean of daily differences between January 1st and June 30th of 2019 and 2020, and b the cumulative decline by sectors in each of China, India, U.S., and EU27 & UK in the first half year of 2020.

**Fig. 4. Global daily CO₂ emissions for sectors.**
Daily CO₂ emissions by sectors in 2019 and January 1st through July 1st 2020 for a power sector and b industry sector, and January 1st through August 1st 2020 for c ground transportation sector, d residential sector, and aviation sector (e domestic aviation; f international aviation).

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

COVID curbed carbon emissions in 2020 - but not by much.
Tollefson J. Tollefson J. Nature. 2021 Jan;589(7842):343. doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00090-3. Nature. 2021. PMID: 33452515 No abstract available.

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Near-real-time monitoring of global CO₂ emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Affiliations

Near-real-time monitoring of global CO₂ emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors

Affiliations

Erratum in

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

Comment in

References

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