BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4. China's total CO2 emissions surpassed those of all advanced economies combined in 2020, growing by 15 percent in 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, Trend reports.
In 2023, India became the third-largest global emitter, surpassing the EU, the agency says. Developing Asian countries now contribute to half of global emissions, up from two-fifths in 2015 and one-quarter in 2000.
China alone makes up 35 percent of global CO2 emissions. Advanced economies still have higher per capita emissions, about 70 percent more than the global average in 2023. India's per capita emissions are less than half of the global average, around 2 tonnes.
Furthermore, the EU has significantly reduced per capita emissions, now only 15 percent higher than the global average and 40 percent below China's.
At the same time, China's per capita emissions exceeded those of advanced economies in 2020 and are now 15 percent higher. In 2023, they surpassed Japan for the first time, though still one-third lower than the US.
Meanwhile, in 2023, global emissions increased by 1.1 percent, roughly 410 million tonnes of CO2. According to the IEA, this growth rate was slower than the global GDP growth of about 3 percent in the same year.