US greenhouse gas emissions barely decreased in 2024, leaving the world’s largest economy off track to achieve its climate goals, according to an analysis released Thursday, as the incoming Trump administration looks set to double down on fossil fuels.The preliminary estimate by the Rhodium Group, an independent research organization, found a net fall of just 0.2 percent in economy-wide emissions.Lower manufacturing output drove the modest decline, but it was undercut by increased air and road travel and higher electricity demand.Study co-author Ben King told AFP the small drop came despite the US economy expanding last year by 2.7 percent, “a continuation of a trend that we’ve seen where there’s a decoupling between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions.”Overall, emissions remain below pre-pandemic levels and about 20 percent below 2005 levels, the benchmark year for US commitments under the Paris Agreement. The accord aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, to avert the worst catastrophes of planet-wide heating.But with 2024 effectively static, decarbonization must accelerate across all sectors. “To meet its Paris Agreement target of a 50-52 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, the US must sustain an ambitious 7.6 percent annual drop in emissions from 2025 to 2030,” the report said — an unprecedented pace outside of a recession.What’s more, Trump has signaled plans to roll back President Joe Biden’s green policies, including rules that require sweeping cuts from fossil fuel power plants and provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, which channels hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy. Should these plans materialize, the US would likely achieve only a 24–40 percent emissions reduction by 2035, the report concluded.- Off track -Even under Biden, the US has logged more tepid reductions compared to some other major emitters.German greenhouse gas emissions fell by three percent in 2024, following a 10 percent year-on-year drop the previous year, according to Agora Energiewende. The European Union’s emissions are forecast to have dropped by 3.8 percent in 2024, according to Carbon Brief, a UK-based analysis site.Such predictions precede official government data and only represent estimates, meaning final figures can vary significantly. US emissions have been trending downward in bumpy fashion since they peaked in 2004. They fell 3.3 percent in 2023 but rose 1.3 percent in 2022 and 6.3 percent in 2021 amid a post-pandemic rebound.”When we looked at the Inflation Reduction Act a couple of years ago… we would have expected slightly lower emissions today than we’re seeing right now,” said King. Still, these investments may just need more time to pay off: with the report finding clean energy and transportation spending reached a record $71 billion in last year’s third quarter.”It’s kind of a mixed bag from my perspective,” King said.- Air conditioning demand -Positives in the report include a bigger share of green energy in the grid — solar and wind combined surpassed coal for the first time — and a drop in methane emissions from reduced coal use and cleaner oil and gas production.Climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania told AFP he welcomed the continued decoupling of growth and emissions.But “emissions aren’t coming down anywhere near the rate they need to, yet at least,” he added.”Simply flatlining emissions puts the United States even farther off track from meeting its climate commitments,” warned Debbie Weyl, US Acting Director for the World Resources Institute.Rachel Cleetus, policy director with the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the findings “sobering,” noting the increased electricity demand came from residential buildings requiring more air conditioning.”Now that’s a reality, as we see year upon year of the temperature records being broken,” she told AFP, as 2024 is set to be named the hottest year on record.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday refused to condemn president-elect Donald Trump’s Greenland ambitions while insisting that the US acquiring the self-governing Danish territory is “not going to happen”.”I’m not in the business of condemning our closest ally,” Lammy told Sky News, adding that he was “in the business of interpreting what sits behind this and there are some very serious national economic security issues”.The comments contrast with the response of some European leaders on Wednesday to Trump refusing to rule out using economic or military force to acquire Greenland.Germany’s Olaf Scholz said the stance had sparked “notable incomprehension” and “uneasiness” among EU leaders, and later noted on social media that “borders must not be moved by force”.London, which prizes its so-called special relationship with Washington, is eager not to damage relations with Trump and his team under the UK’s new Labour government.It follows a number of Labour ministers previously making disparaging comments about the president-elect, including Lammy, who once described him as a “tyrant” and “xenophobic”.Trump has designs on the mineral- and oil-rich Arctic island, an autonomous territory of European Union member Denmark that itself has eyes on independence.He set alarm bells ringing on Tuesday at a news conference when he said the US needs Greenland “for national security purposes”.In a round of interviews on Thursday, Britain’s top diplomat branded the incoming US president’s remarks “classic Donald Trump” and said they were centred around “Americans’ national economic security”.”In the end, that is up to the people of Greenland and their own self-determination, and there is a discussion within Greenland about those very same issues,” he told Sky News.Asked by BBC radio how Britain would respond if Trump acted on his claim that the US might try to acquire Greenland by economic or military force, Lammy insisted that “it’s not going to happen”, noting that “no NATO allies have gone to war, since the birth of NATO”.But he was also careful not to criticise Trump, noting that while his “rhetoric” and “unpredictability” can be “destabilising”, the outcomes of that can be beneficial to Western allies.He cited Trump’s insistence on increased defence spending by NATO members as an example.Lammy added that Trump was addressing valid “concerns about Russia and China in the Arctic” as well as “national economic security” in his Greenland comments. “He recognises, I’m sure, that in the end, Greenland today is a (part of the) Kingdom of Denmark. There is a debate in Greenland about their own self-determination.”Lammy also noted that the US has troops and a military base on Greenland.”So it has got a stake in that Arctic theatre,” he added.

Wildfires threatened to engulf parts of Hollywood on Thursday as a growing number of blazes raged across Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and claiming at least five lives.Over 100,000 people have been told to flee at least five separate blazes, including in the heart of historic Hollywood, just a few hundred meters (yards) from the storied theaters of Hollywood Boulevard.Fighters in helicopters dumped water on the Hollywood Hills blaze where an evacuation order was issued for a number of streets in the historic district.Sharon Ibarra, 29, told AFP she had rushed into Hollywood when she heard of the blaze to see if she could help her boss with her two babies.”I am super nervous, scared because of everything that has happened in the other places,” she said. The sudden eruption created gridlock on Hollywood’s streets, hampering efforts by people who live in the area — a mixture of ritzy homes and rent-controlled apartments — to leave.Fast-moving flames fanned by powerful winds have levelled 1,500 structures, many of them multi-million dollar homes in a rolling tragedy that the US media describe as the worst in the city’s history.Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said his crews were struggling with the scale and speed of the unfolding disasters.”We’re doing the very best we can. But no, we don’t have enough fire personnel in LA County between all the departments to handle this,” he said.New fires appeared to be spotting as embers were thrown up to 2.5 miles (four kilometers) including one that razed a large property late Wednesday in the densely populated Studio City area.Adam Vangerpen of Los Angeles County Fire Department said crews were fighting to stop this new fire from spreading.”It’s a four-story home… we did just have the winds pick up again, so we are seeing some ember casting,” he said.”Our hope is to hit it hard and make sure that we’re trying to keep it out of the brush right now, because with the winds picking up there in the hills, that is a concern of ours.”Millions of Angelenos have watched in horror as a series of blazes have erupted around America’s second biggest city, sparking panic and fear.Winds with gusts up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour spread the fire around the ritzy Pacific Palisades neighborhood with lightning speed.At least 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares) burned there, with 1,000 homes and businesses razed.A separate 10,600-acre (4,300-hectare) fire was burning around Altadena, north of the city, where flames tore through suburban streets.- Lost everything -Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said five people were known to have perished, with more deaths feared.Among those who died was 66-year-old Victor Shaw, whose sister told local broadcaster KTLA he had ignored pleas to leave as the fire swept through his Altendena area neighborhood because he wanted to stay and protect their home.”When I went back in and yelled out his name, he didn’t reply back,” Shari Shaw said.”I had to get out because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm that I had to save myself.”Shaw’s body was found by a friend some time later on the driveway of his razed home, a garden hose in his hand.William Gonzales got out alive, but his Altadena home was gone.”We have lost practically everything; the flames have consumed all our dreams,” he told AFP.Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft are offering evacuating residents free rides to shelter locations.Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin said up to 500 buildings had been lost to the flames in that area.He hailed the bravery of first responders. “Our death count today would be significantly higher without their heroic actions,” Augustin told reporters.US President Joe Biden cancelled a trip to Italy this week to focus on the federal response to the fires. “We’re doing anything and everything, and as long as it takes to contain these fires,” Biden earlier told reporters.His incoming successor Donald Trump blamed the California governor Gavin Newsom for the devastation, calling on him to resign. “This is all his fault,” Trump said on his Truth social platform. – Climate crisis -Having destroyed perhaps hundreds of multimillion-dollar homes, the Pacific Palisades fire looked set to be one of the costliest blazes on record.AccuWeather said it estimated up to $57 billion of losses.Wildfires are part of life in the US West and play a vital role in nature.But scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather patterns.Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, which sparked furious vegetative growth — leaving the region packed with fuel and primed to burn — and then has had no significant rain for eight months.