Official Chinese data that has just come to light reveals that China has been dramatically underreporting the amount of coal it consumes every year by 17 % more than was previously disclosed by the government . If correct , this means it has emitted nearly a billion additional tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year . This is about the equivalent of the whole national consumption of Germany , and Germany is a large consumer of coal . This could affect confidence in the fight against global warming ahead of the UN climate change conference in Paris starting 30 march .
Official Chinese data that has just come to light reveals that China has been dramatically underreporting the amount of coal it consumes every year by 17% more than was previously disclosed by the government. If correct, this means it has emitted nearly a billion additional tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. This is about the equivalent of the whole national consumption of Germany, and Germany is a large consumer of coal. This could complicate matters in the fight against global warming ahead of the UN climate change conference in Paris starting 30 November.