Year in Review: Chinese Emissions Hit Record 12% Of Global Total, with the U.S. At 5%

According to the Global Carbon Budget, China, spewing a rising amount of emissions, accounts for 11.9% of the fossil fuel related CO2, with the U.S. as runner-up at 5%. The American figure is flat.

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There are economic reasons for the China trend. Although it has built a massive solar and wind industries and produces more energy from these sources than any other nation in the world, many of its industries still operate with electricity generated by fossil fuels. Meanwhile, China’s GDP has slowed and it is not in a position to quicken the green pace under any circumstance that will meaningfully slow economic expansion.

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In third place on the list is India, and its position is rising quickly. Based on the new data, its contribution is about 4%. In part this is because the world’s most populous nation — it recently overtook China — it has the fastest growing GDP among the world’s largest nations and sees itself as having little incentive to slow economic growth in an effort to transfer to green energy. It will only, in its mind, mean downtime for energy producing industries and force much of the population to change how they heat their homes and cook their food. All this means India could pass the U.S. on the emissions list within two or three years.

These trends are depressing for those who care about climate change. If the world’s most polluting nations are not inclined to change their energy habits, global warming will continue to spike.

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