An analysis of 2009 emissions data in the Nature Geoscience journal has revealed that emissions from fossil fuels only dropped by 1.3% in the last year. This has dissapointed some environmental campaigners as it was hoped the drop would be greater during a period of global recession.

The journal also predicted that emissions are likely to continue rising by 3% a year again unless further action is taken. The biggest challenge of reducing this figure is seen to be the separation of economic growth from carbon emissions. This is most applicable to developing nations where there is a hesitance to spend new found wealth on eco-friendly technologies as it will slow down financial growth.

These thoughts were echoed by UK climate minister Greg Barker, who questioned "whether a transition to a low-carbon economy is compatible with continued economic growth - and no-one knows the answer, because no country has made the transition yet".

It appears that we are somewhat stuck in the chicken and egg situation again. In these financially fragile times, few are willing to take a chance adopting new technologies because they cannot afford for them to fail. This is reflected by the half-baked approach currently taken in some countries' climate policies. For example, in the UK electric vehicles continue to be pursued as the saviour to the environment, despite their limited range and battery waste disposal issues. The only reason for their continued adoption is that the technology is seen as being more affordable and lower risk than the alternatives.

Sadly, hydrogen is one of the other alternatives which appears to have been forgotten. This is notable by it's absence from the Department of Energy and Climate Changes's 29 page November 2010 plan. One can only hope that important carbon-saving opportunities do not continue to get missed because of the rush to patch up the nations finances.