Human activities worldwide in 2024 sent a record 53.2 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) emissions to the atmosphere, without counting emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). It is a 1.3 per cent rise compared to the previous year (665Mt CO2eq – roughly the amount emitted by Germany in 2024), according to the latest data from the European Commission’s Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR).

Over the same period, the EU’s GHG emissions, excluding LULUCF, shrank by 1.8 per cent, that is by close to 60 Mt CO2 eq. GHG emissions from China and the US remained relatively stable.

EDGAR findings are published in the JRC report ‘GHG emissions of all world countries’ compiled in cooperation with the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report presents trends from 1990 to 2024, together with emissions and removals from LULUCF and wildfires. It provides a factsheet for all the countries in the world and the EU, including sector-specific trends and trends per capita and GDP.

Global GHG emissions hit a record 53.2 Gt CO₂eq in 2024, up 1.3 per cent, driven by major emitters like India (+3.9 per cent) and Indonesia (+5 per cent).
Only the EU and Japan saw notable declines.
The power sector led emission growth, while global emission intensity per GDP fell.
LULUCF acted as a small net source due to wildfires, despite large removals from forests.

The EDGAR report shows that global GHG emissions from anthropogenic activities have increased by nearly 1.5 per cent annually on average since 1990, and as a result are 65 per cent higher in 2024 than in 1990.

In 2024, the eight highest emitting economies – China, US, India, EU, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and Japan – collectively contributed to 66.2 per cent of global GHG emissions. Only the European Union and Japan decreased their emissions compared to the previous year (-1.8 per cent and -2.8 per cent respectively), while all others either kept them rather stable (China: +0.8 per cent; US: +0.4 per cent; Brazil +0.2 per cent) or increased them (India: +3.9 per cent; Russia: +2.4 per cent, Indonesia: +5 per cent – the highest relative increase).

In absolute terms, India has the largest increase with 164.8 Mt CO2eq more emissions released in 2024 compared to 2023.

Nevertheless, all major emitters reduced their emission intensity in terms of GHG emissions per unit of GDP.

The EU has continued its decades-long decreasing trend of GHG emissions, briefly interrupted only in 2021 by the post-COVID rebound. On a longer perspective, data for the EU show the most significant percentage decrease of GHG among the top emitting economies since 1990, while GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP) grew steadily in the same period.

Beyond the EU, other major economies also show signs of decoupling emissions from economic growth. While GDP PPP has grown strongly in all regions since 1990, the pace of emissions growth has been lower, leading to declining emission intensity.

The US, Russia and Japan have gone further, achieving absolute decoupling: in 2024 their GDP PPP was significantly higher than in 1990, while their GHG emissions were lower.

By contrast, India and China experienced rapid GDP PPP growth accompanied by rising emissions, although at a slower rate than GDP PPP. These contrasting trajectories underline that while absolute decoupling remains challenging, it is already a reality in several major economies.

China, the US, India, the EU, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and Japan were the eight largest GHG emitters in 2024, according to the report. Together they account for 54.6 per cent of the global population, 68.3 per cent of the global GDP PPP, 68.3 per cent of the global primary energy consumption of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), and 66.2 per cent of the global GHG emissions.

Only five of the 18 countries and regions that contribute more than 1 per cent to the total global GHG emissions reduced their GHG emissions in 2024: the EU27, Japan, Mexico, Germany, and South Korea.

According to the report, the power industry emissions showed the largest absolute increase (+235 Mt CO2eq or +1.5 per cent) in 2024 as compared to 2023, whereas fuel exploitation had the largest relative increase (+1.6 per cent). All other main economic activity sectors also increased their emissions or remained stable: industrial combustion and processes, buildings, transport, agriculture, and waste.

Atmospheric CO2 can accumulate as carbon in vegetation and soils, which act as sinks. Human activities have an impact on these sinks through the LULUCF sector.

Globally, the LULUCF removed about 1.3 Gt CO2eq in 2024, excluding wildfires, which is equivalent to 2.4 per cent of 2024 global GHG emissions. When including wildfires, the LULUCF sector results in a source of 0.9 Gt CO2eq.

This net flux reflects the balance between much larger removals, mostly from managed forests (about 5.5 Gt of CO2 in 2024, equal to 13.9 per cent of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions excluding LULUCF), and emissions, primarily from deforestation (about 3.7 Gt CO2, approximately 9.3 per cent of the same figure).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)