China fossil fuel CO2 jumps as global total falls

LONDON (Reuters) - China will face increasing pressure in U.N. climate talks after data released on Wednesday showed the country's carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel rose by 9 percent in 2009, bucking a global downtrend.

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China's CO2 from fossil fuels grew to 7.52 billion tonnes, even though global emissions dropped for the first time since 1998 as industrial production and fuel consumption fell amid a global recession, BP data showed.

China was the first nation ever to emit over 7 billion tonnes of CO2 in a single year and increased its lead over the United States, the second-largest emitter which it surpassed in 2008, BP said in its annual Statistical Review of World Energy.

China emitted nearly 1.6 billion tonnes more than the U.S., where emissions fell by 6.5 percent to 5.94 billion tonnes, the lowest level since 1995.

Global CO2 emissions dropped 1.1 percent to 31.13 billion tonnes after peaking at 31.55 billion tonnes in 2008, BP said.

Emerging market economies increased their lead over OECD nations, increasing emissions by 5.3 percent to 15.25 billion tonnes, or a 49 percent share of global levels.

OECD emissions fell by 6.2 percent to 13.52 billion tonnes, while European Union emissions dropped by 6.4 percent to 4.07 billion tonnes.

Japan had one of the biggest drops among industrialized nations with an 11.8 percent fall to 1.22 billion tonnes.

India increased its emissions from fossil fuel use by 7 percent to 1.539 billion tonnes, putting it above Russia's level for the first time.

World oil consumption fell by 1.2 million barrels per day last year, the second consecutive annual decline and the largest volume since 1982, while global coal consumption was near unchanged at 3.28 billion million tonnes of oil equivalent, the BP data showed.

(Reporting by Michael Szabo; Editing by Jane Baird)