But it's not happening anything like fast enough to meet goals outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which talks of emissions peaking by 2020, preferably by 2015, if the target of limiting the global temperature rise to 2C from pre-industrial levels is to be met.

BBC: Emissions and growth continue their dance

As it currently stands, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has set a target of limiting the rise in global mean temperature to 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels.

BBC: Climate change evident across Europe, says report