China, US contribute in fighting climate change

China and the United States have made significant contributions to the fight against climate change in the last year, said Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency in Beijing on Tuesday.

China's carbon emission growth in 2012 was one of the lowest it has seen in a decade, driven largely by the development of renewables and a significant improvement in the energy intensity of its economy, according to the report World Energy Outlook 2013 released by IEA.

"Despite positive developments in some countries, global energy-related carbon emissions increased by 1.4 percent to reach 31.6 gigatons in 2012, a historic high," said the report.

However, the two biggest economies and emitters in the world have made significant contributions to tackling emissions, said Birol.

China has taken impressive steps to deal with climate change though it is still the largest contributor to the increase in global carbon emissions.

In the US, where fracking technology is helping to untap shale gas, emissions have been reduced by 200 million tons, bringing them back to the level of the mid-1990s, according to the report.

Despite an increase in coal use, emission in Europe declined by 50 million tons, due to the weak economy, growth in renewable energy and a cap on emissions.

Emissions in Japan increased by 70 million tons, as efforts to improve energy efficiency did not fully offset the use of fossil fuels to compensate for a reduction in nuclear power, said the report.