Pollution: China CO2 emissions 'overestimated'

Confusion over the types of coal being burned in Chinese power stations has caused a significant overestimation of the country's carbon emissions.

Research, published in the journal Nature, found existing CO2 calculations had used a globally-averaged formula.

But when scientists tested the types of coal actually being burned in China, they found they produced 40% less carbon than had been assumed.

New figures put the country at 26% of global emissions, down from the long-held estimate of 31%,

Elaine Jung reports.