The reason that the data is 'contradictory' is that the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is the integral of the emissions over time (minus the amount that gets sequestered by greenery and the like).

Even if the emissions level off fully, the expected amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will grow linearly. Emissions need to decrease to less than the rate of sequestration for the total CO2 in the atmosphere to shrink.

There's no contradiction: atmospheric_CO2 = integrate_{0,today}(emissions - sequestration)dt.