The coronavirus has wiped out at least a quarter of China ’s emissions of damaging greenhouse gases in the past two weeks, scientists have found.
Measures to prevent the spread of the outbreak have led to sharp drops in the burning of fossil fuels – a key cause of the climate crisis – in the world’s largest greenhouse gas producer.
Reducing industrial working hours and keeping construction sites and shops closed has curbed the use of coal and cut output of steel products in the country, which produces about 27 per cent of global greenhouse gases.
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As China’s leaders have strived for economic growth , its carbon dioxide emissions have risen, hitting a record high in 2018.
But in the past two weeks, with cities under lockdown, coal use at the country’s power stations has hit a four-year low, and oil refinery operating rates in Shandong province are at their lowest level since 2015, statistics show.
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A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan
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Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China
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Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea
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Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital
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A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China
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Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China
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A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province
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Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan
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A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou
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Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province
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Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan
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A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus
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Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province
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16/132 A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice
The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak
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Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February
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Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan
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A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama
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Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan
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People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal
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Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing
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A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing
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Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province
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A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media
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Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo
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Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
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Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus
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Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus
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A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand
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A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections
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Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea
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A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge
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A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok
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A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan
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A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar
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Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province
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Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi
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A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul
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Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus
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A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan
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Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
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Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan
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Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan
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The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease
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A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao
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An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan
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Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading
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A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China
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Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically
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Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan
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People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more
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Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong
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Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine
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Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan
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A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan
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Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world
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A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station
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A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing
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The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern
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Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK
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A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station
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Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan
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Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan
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Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India
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Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district
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Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift homemade protection and protective masks while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport
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A patient assisted by medical staff gets off an ambulance in Wuhan
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People line up to buy face masks from a medical supply company in Nanning, southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Countries began evacuating their citizens from the Chinese city hardest-hit by a new virus that has now infected more people in China than were sickened in the country by SARS
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Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown
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Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far
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China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans
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Hospital workers wearing protective eyewear and masks examine an Indonesian student who returned from China in quarantine at a hospital in Banda Aceh
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Ambulance staff dispose of an outfit at the hospital in Wuhan
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A person checks the temperature of a passenger to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as he arrives at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International airport in Palembang
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Nepali students, wearing face masks, attend a class at Matribhumi School in Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu
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Medical staff at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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Two Buddhist monks wear face masks while walking along a street in Yangon
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Staff disinfecting a residential area in Ruichang, part of Jiujiang in China's central Jiangxi province
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Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL
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Vapor blurs the goggles of an ambulance driver while they work, in Wuhan
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Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou
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Medical staff getting on an ambulance in Wuhan
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A vendor of traditional masks wears a facial mask at his shop in Thamel
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An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar
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Medical staff members arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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An ambulance driver talking with medical staff in Wuhan
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89/132 Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team leave the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
The new coronavirus appears to have its origins in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, a popular transport hub
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Workers produce protective suits at a factory in Nantong
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Passengers scanned by thermal imaging for body temperature as they go through health measures and procedures after they landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
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A Thai royal guard wears a mask while on duty at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
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A man wearing a face mask rides a nearly empty subway train in Beijing
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Medical staff members at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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A shopper wearing goggles with a face mask and gloves uses a self checkout machine at a supermarket in Wuhan
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Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
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Members of the Italian Red Cross putting on protective gear, getting ready to give health checks to passengers that landed at Rome's Fiumicino airport on a southern airlines flight from Wuhan
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A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced
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Medical staff wearing protective suits at the Zhongnan hospital in Wuhan
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A Malaysia Health official checks passengers going through a thermal scanner upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
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China banned trains and planes from leaving the major city at the centre of a virus outbreak on January 23, seeking to seal off its 11 million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed lives and spread to other countries
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A passenger walks past a quarantine control station at Narita airport, Japan
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Patients queue up to seek treatment in Wuhan Tongji Hospital Fever Clinic, in Wuhan
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Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at Incheon International Airport, South Korea
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A member of staff checks the temperature of a guest entering the casino of the New Orient Landmark hotel in Macau, after it reported its first case of the new SARS-like virus
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Little is known about the new disease which, if confirmed, would be only the seventh coronavirus known to science that can infect humans
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Members of the Three Gorges Medical Laboratory offering free masks to the public in Yichang, China
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Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China
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Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
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The virus causes symptoms of viral pneumonia, and has already led to several deaths
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A screen shows cancelled flights at Tianhe airport in Wuhan
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Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital
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Health officials hand out information about the current coronavirus at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
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A store owner argues with security guards as he attempts to enter the closed Huanan wholesale seafood market
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Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Handan, China's northern Hebei province
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Medical staff and security personnel stop patients' family members from being too close to the Jinyintan hospital
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maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
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A rescue worker walks past a notice about new coronavirus that has broken out in China
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Health officials wear face masks at an inspection site at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang
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Medical staff members carry a patient into the Jinyintan hospital
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A staff member checks body temperature of a child after a train from Wuhan arrived at Hangzhou Railway Station in Hangzhou
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A quarantine station measures passenger body temperatures at Narita Airport
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Passengers walk past a notice displayed near a quarantine control station at Narita airport
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Passengers walk past a poster alerting on coronavirus screening ahead upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
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An employee sprays disinfectant on a train, as a precaution against coronavirus, at Suseo Station in Seoul
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Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travellers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the previously unknown coronavirus, at Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan
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Pharmacist Liu Zhuzhen stands near a sign reading "face masks are sold out" at her pharmacy in Shanghai
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The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center,
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A worker in a protective suit at the closed seafood market in Wuhan
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Passengers wear protective face masks at the departure hall of a high speed train station in Hong Kong
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A notice for passengers from Wuhan
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A man wears a mask while riding on mobike past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
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A recovered patient is discharged from Leishenshan Hospital, the newly-built makeshift hospital for novel coronavirus patients, in Wuhan
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Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a factory with sanitising equipment in Huzhou, China
China Daily via Reuters
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Medical workers in protective suits attend to a patient inside an isolated ward of Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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A drone operated by the Suwon municipal government flies around Changyong Middle School spraying disinfectant, in Suwon, South Korea
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Workers transfer medical waste at Leishenshan Hospital
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A man wearing a protective mask rides a bicycle with his children in Guangzhou, China
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Volunteers in protective suits disinfect a railway station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Changsha, Hunan province, China
cnsphoto via Reuters
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A woman repatriated from Wuhan carries a child as she walks upon her arrival at the Van Don airport in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province
AFP via Getty
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Medical staff checking the body temperature of a patient who has displayed mild symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at an exhibition centre converted into a hospital in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
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A medical worker in protective suit transports oxygen tanks at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
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Boys wearing protection masks, gloves and modified water bottles sit on a cart at the airport arrival terminal in Guangzhou
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Employees work on a production line manufacturing protective suits at a clothing factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province
cnsphoto via Reuters
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Medical workers in protective suits move a patient at an isolated ward of a hospital in Caidian district following an outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan
China Daily via Reuters
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A worker in protective clothing, including face mask and gloves, carries a bucket as he works inside of The County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, southern England, after it closed for "urgent operational health and safety reasons", following reports a member of staff was infected with the strain of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
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Workers of the ecology and environment bureau collect samples from the sewage system of a hospital in Xinle, Hebei province
China Daily via Reuters
16/132 A man in protective clothing cleaning the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice
The British government warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat" and reported four new cases that brought the total recorded in the country to eight. Two hospitals The Royal Free and Guys and St Thomas', have both been designated as "isolation" facilities, with both currently housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak
PA
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Medical staff transfer patients to the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field Hospital in Wuhan. The global coronavirus death toll rose again with Hong Kong announcing its first death from the outbreak on 4 February
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Members of staff wait as coaches carrying Coronavirus evacuees arrive at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, in Milton Keynes, after being repatriated to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan
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A crew member of the cruise ship Diamond Princess talks to a worker wearing protective gear standing near the vessel, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama
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Doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan
Xinhua News Agency/AP
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People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal
AFP via Getty
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Indonesians who arrived from Wuhan are sprayed with antiseptic at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam. People evacuated from the Chinese city at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, were transported to a quarantine zone on a remote island at the edge of the South China Sea, shortly after landing
Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AP
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A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a market in Beijing
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Medical staff members hugging each other in an isolation ward at a hospital in Zouping in China's easter Shandong province
AFP via Getty
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A portrait of Dr Li Wenliang is left at Li's hospital in Wuhan. He is regarded a whistleblower on the outbreak and died of the coronavirus which triggered wide-spread mourning on Chinese media
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Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where people tested positive for coronavirus, after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo
Reuters
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Firefighters and personnel from the health ministry participate in a drill to prepare for the potential arrival of passengers infected with the coronavirus at the Viru Viru International Airport, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Reuters
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Scientists are at work in the VirPath university laboratory as they try to find an effective treatment against the new Sars-like coronavirus
AFP via Getty
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Medical workers in protective suits attend to patients at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital to receive patients with mild symptoms caused by the virus
Reuters
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A girl wears a mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand
Reuters
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A man is transferred from the World Dream cruise ship to an ambulance at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong as health officials conduct inspections
AFP via Getty
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Workers from a disinfection service company enter Lotte Department Store in central Seoul, South Korea
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A man who arrived from Hubei province talks with police at a checkpoint at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge
Reuters
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A doctor holds a handheld digital thermometer near health officials preparing a health check for arriving passengers from China at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok
EPA
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A resident walks across an empty track in Wuhan
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A scientific staff member works in a secure laboratory, researching the coronavirus, at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar
AFP via Getty
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Medical staff members preparing equipment to meet passengers of a military plane, which evacuated citizens of Russia and ex-Soviet countries from China's Wuhan province
Vsluh.ru via Reuters
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Staff wearing protective suits as they prepare to disinfect a Vietnam Airlines plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi
Vietnam Airlines/AFP/Getty
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A South Korean person, who was evacuated from Wuhan, arrives at the National Medical Center after showing suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus, in Seoul
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Officers in protective gear escort a person (under the blue sheet) who was on board cruise ship Diamond Princess and was tested positive for coronavirus
Reuters
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A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
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Buses carrying British nationals from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside
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Medical staff transfer patients in Wuhan
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Indonesian health officials conduct an exercise drill in transporting a patient requiring isolation at the Belawan port in Medan
AFP via Getty
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The Pasteur Institute in Dakar, designated by the African Union as one of the two reference centres in Africa for the detection of the new coronavirus that appeared in China, is hosting experts from 15 countries on the continent this weekend to prepare them to deal with the disease
AFP via Getty
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A government worker disinfects a co-worker after visiting a quarantined woman's home in Qingdao
EPA
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An aerial view of the deserted roads and bridges in Wuhan
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Medical workers hold a strike outside the Hospital Authority as they demand for Hong Kong to close its border with China to reduce the coronavirus spreading
Reuters
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A person has their tempriture checked in Qingdao, China
EPA
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Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/AFP
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Malaysian nationals being directed from a bus by health officials in protective suits as they arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, after being evacuated from Wuhan
Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AFP
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People hoping to buy face masks crowd outside a medical supply shop that was raided by police for allegedly hoarding and overpricing the masks, as public fear over China's Wuhan Coronavirus grow in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government has been heavily criticized after failing to immediately implement travel restrictions from China, the source of a deadly coronavirus that has now killed hundreds and infected thousands more
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Residents wearing masks and raincoats volunteer to take temperature of passengers following the outbreak of a new coronavirus at a bus stop at Tin Shui Wai, a border town in Hong Kong
Reuters
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Italian citizens repatriated from Wuhan going though a health control zone after landing at the Mario De Bernardi military airport in Pratica di Mare, south of Rome, prior to be placed in quarantine
Italian Defence Ministry/AFP
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Workers arrange beds in a 2,000-bed mobile hospital, set up in an exhibition center, in Wuhan
EPA
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A doctor checks conditions of occupants in a hotel accommodating isolated people in Wuhan
EPA
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Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city of Wuhan, arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The Chinese army deployed medical specialists to the epicentre of the spiralling viral outbreak that has killed and spread around the world
AFP via Getty
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A baby wearing a protective face mask is pushed by a woman as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong at Lo Wu MTR station
AFP via Getty Images
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A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing
Getty
61/132 A young child wears a protective mask and is covered in plastic while waiting to check in to a flight at Beijing Capital Airport
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern
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Ambulance crews arrive at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as it prepares for a return flight from Wuhan, China. Eighty-three Britons and 27 foreign nationals who were trapped in Wuhan are being flown back to the UK
Tom Maddick / SWNS
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A woman carries a baby wearing a protective mask as they exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong High Speed Rail Station
Getty
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Camp beds at a Medical Assessment Center set up at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on the eve of the arrival of German citizens evacuated from Wuhan
AFP via Getty
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Funeral parlour staff members in protective suits help a colleague with disinfection after they transferred a body at a hospital in Wuhan
Reuters
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Muslims wearing masks pray for the victims of coronavirus at a mosque in Ahmedabad, India
Reuters
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Medical officials waiting for people who wants to check the novel coronavirus at Myeongdong shopping district
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Millions spent their normally festive Lunar New Year holiday under lockdown
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Children with face masks wash their hands before prayer at Erawan shrine in Bangkok. Thailand has detected eight Coronavirus cases so far
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China confirmed that the deadly Wuhan coronavirus virus can be transmitted between humans
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Workers are seen at the construction site of a new hospital being built to treat patients from a deadly virus outbreak in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on January 27, 2020. - China is rushing to build a new hospital in a staggering 10 days to treat patients at the epicentre of a deadly virus outbreak that has stricken thousands of people, state media reported on January 24. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) HECTOR RETAMAL
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A member of the Hong Kong government's Civil Aid Service gestures at the entrance to the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village which is being used as one of two quarantine centres for people who have been in close proximity with suspected cases of a SARS-type virus. Hong Kong will turn two holiday camps, including a former military barracks, into quarantine zones for people who may have come into contact with carriers of the Wuhan virus, officials announced
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Gabriel Leung, right, chair professor of public health medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, speaks about the extent of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China
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Members of staff of the Wuhan Hygiene Emergency Response Team conducting searches on the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market
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maya-goodfellowAn airport staff member uses a temperature gun to check people leaving Wuhan Tianhe International Airport
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The Wuhan Medical Treatment Center,
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Output of key steel products are at their lowest level for five years, and domestic flights have fallen by up to 70 per cent in a month.
The measures have also led to a drop of 36 per cent in levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution over China, according to analysis by climate science website Carbon Brief.
Overall, the changes in Chinese society have caused a 40 per cent plunge in output across key industrial sectors, according to the study, which was based on official statistics.
Factories, offices, shops and schools all close for the Chinese new year holiday, but this year the holiday was extended in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus, which has killed at least 2,236 people so far worldwide.
The reductions in coal and crude oil use have meant a drop in CO2 emissions of 25 per cent or more – 6 per cent of global emissions – compared with the same period last year, Carbon Brief found.
Dominic Moran, professor of agricultural and resource economics at Edinburgh University, told The Independent any falls in emissions would have a cumulative benefit, and the drop in flights was likely to change people’s behaviour long-term.
“Some will say the pent-up demand for goods will lead to a rebound splurge afterwards,” he said. “But this could be a minor real effect – 20 per cent of the world economy is slowly shutting down, one in five global flights is being cancelled. I doubt it will catch up afterwards.”
People’s fear of being quarantined, for instance, would give them pause for thought and change their behaviour, he said. If one in five consumption decisions was not now being taken, that could also influence people’s psychology for the better.
But Joeri Rogelj, a climate change and environment lecturer at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said the changes would make no difference in the long term.
“This change in CO2 is not permanent,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things it won’t be visible in our total emissions.
“If there’s a silver lining to the virus, it’s that it’s a wake-up call in our society and intricate structures. We’re far from controlling our world as well as we think.”
The coronavirus showed how vulnerable our societies would be to sudden disturbances such as an epidemic, a sudden failure of “bread basket” grain harvests or the Amazon turning to savannah, Dr Rogelj added.
He said emissions can be cut by reducing demand for products by consuming less or consuming smarter – so designing towns and cities better so people need to travel less; and designing buildings and other products so the steel can be extracted and reused.
Melting steel requires the burning of large amounts of fossil fuels, but currently steel is hard to recycle when it is encased in concrete.
Caterina Brandmayr, senior policy analyst at the Green Alliance think tank, agreed the drop in emissions was very unlikely to be sustained in the long term once economic activity rises again.
“The crisis highlights the fundamental role that demand plays in driving emissions generation,” she said.
“In China’s case, energy consumption is strongly dominated by energy-intensive industries and freight, but ultimately these are driven by end consumers, be it individuals, corporates or governments, within and outside China.
“This reminds us that reducing emissions permanently will require substantial investment in clean energy, processes and products, but also addressing demand for goods and services to ensure the overall demand for energy and materials is reduced across the economy.”
With its current policies, China’s greenhouse gases are projected to rise until at least 2030, although the rate of increase is projected to slow towards the end of the 2020s, according to Climate Action Tracker .
Coal-fired power generation usually halves in the 10 days after the Chinese new year, but this year the fall in energy use has been prolonged, with no sign of rebound, Carbon Brief found.
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