Joint efforts essential to fight global warming

Record low temperatures in winter and record high temperatures in summer in many parts of the world year after year and more frequent natural disasters caused by extreme weather events provide strong evidence that global warming is not just an alarmist theory as some claim.

Yet striking a balance between the effective control of human activities that are contributing to climate change and economic growth is proving a hard nut for countries to crack.

According to the 2018 International Energy Agency report, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose by 1.7 percent to 33 gigatonnes last year, the highest level since 2013. Coal use in power generation alone surpassed 10 Gt, accounting for one-third of the total increase.