China’s annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 account for 27 percent of the world total, exceeding the total emissions of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries for the first time, according to a new study released on Thursday (May 6).
China’s greenhouse gas emissions reached 14,093 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, accounting for more than 27 percent of the global total and far surpassing those of the United States, which came in second, the New York-based consulting firm Rhodium Group said in the report. The United States accounts for about 11 percent of total global emissions.
In addition, India’s 2019 greenhouse gas emissions also surpassed those of the European Union for the first time, accounting for about 6.6 percent of the global total.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, is an intergovernmental international economic organization composed of 36 market economies, whose member countries include major Western economies such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
The report also says that China’s per capita emissions are still lower than those of developed countries. China’s per capita emissions reached 10.1 tons in 2019, slightly below the 2019 average of 10.5 tons per capita for OECD member countries and still significantly lower than the U.S. per capita emissions of 17.6 tons. With a population of 1.4 billion, China is the most populous country in the world.
Rongding Group also said that final data for 2020 is not available, but estimates that China’s emissions rose by 1.7 percent last year, while the rest of the world’s emissions fell due to the new crown epidemic.
China has previously said it will aim to stop growing carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve “zero” carbon dioxide emissions by 2060 with various neutralizing effects.
The U.S. seeks to work constructively with China on climate change and other issues in a “reasonable and positive way” where possible. John Kerry, the president’s special envoy on climate change, has repeatedly stressed that the world’s efforts to reduce emissions would be meaningless without China’s commitment, according to The Hill.
Kerry told Indian media in April that China plays a very important role in this regard and “we hope that China will come to the negotiating table and take the lead.”
Republican Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) tweeted Thursday, “Communist China is the world’s worst polluter and we can’t trust it to do anything to change course.”
He also wrote, “Tackling our changing climate requires real solutions, but we can’t pretend that a useless (toothless) agreement with a super-polluter like Communist China will move the needle.”
Recent Comments