Total energy-related CO₂ emissions increased by 0.8% in 2024, hitting an all-time high of 37.8 Gt CO₂1. This rise contributed to record atmospheric CO₂ concentrations of 422.5 ppm in 2024, around 3 ppm higher than 2023 and 50% higher than pre-industrial levels. In 2024, CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion grew by around 1% or 357 Mt CO₂, while emissions from industrial processes declined by 2.3% or 62 Mt CO₂. Emissions growth was lower than global GDP growth (+3.2%), restoring the decades-long trend of decoupling emissions growth from economic growth, which had been disrupted in 2021.

Natural gas emissions rose by around 2.5% (180 Mt CO₂) in 2024, making it the largest contributor to global carbon emissions growth. This increase was driven by higher consumption in China, the United States, the Middle East, and India.

Global coal emissions rose by 0.9% (135 Mt CO₂) in 2024. The increase was primarily fuelled by growing coal consumption in China, India and Southeast Asia, while demand declined in advanced economies, particularly in the United States and the European Union.

While global oil consumption rose by 0.8% in 2024, oil-related emissions increased by only 0.3%. This was despite aviation emissions surging by approximately 5.5% amid record global air passenger demand. The modest overall rise in emissions from oil use is largely due to the fact that petrochemical feedstocks accounted for 70% of the total volumetric increase in oil use.

Emissions trends between regions diverged in 2024. CO₂ emissions grew in emerging market and developing economies and international aviation and marine bunkers, outweighing reductions from advanced economies led by the European Union, Japan and the United States.

In emerging market and developing economies, energy-related CO₂ emissions increased by 1.5% (375 Mt CO₂) in 2024, driven by rising energy demand associated with rapid economic and population growth. Emissions from coal rose by 2%, while natural gas emissions increased by 3.7% and oil emissions rose by 0.3%, reflecting the continued reliance on fossil fuels to meet expanding industrial activity and improve energy access.

China’s energy-related CO₂ emissions grew by an estimated 0.4% year-on-year in 2024, with most of the growth occurring in the first quarter due to the residual impact of lockdowns in early 2023. Energy demand surged throughout the year, driven by record-breaking heatwaves, economic stimulus measures, industrial growth and a strong rebound in the residential and service sectors. Despite these pressures, the expansion of clean energy – particularly in wind and solar PV – helped mitigate emissions growth. Hydropower generation also increased by 11% compared with 2023, partially rebounding from the droughts of 2022/2023. Abundant spring rainfall, particularly in southern China, contributed to record-high hydro generation during the season. However, persistent droughts in the northern regions and extreme summer heatwaves limited further gains. Additionally, industrial process emissions declined by over 5%, largely due to a nearly 10% contraction in cement production caused by weak demand from a struggling real estate market and reduced infrastructure investment.

India’s energy-related CO₂ emissions rose by 5.3% in 2024, the highest rate among major economies, driven by rapid economic growth, infrastructure development and surging energy demand. Severe and prolonged heatwaves further boosted electricity consumption, which rose by 5%, straining power systems despite record-breaking additions of nearly 35 GW in solar PV and wind capacity. However, the growth in renewables could not keep pace with rising demand, leaving fossil fuels dominant in the electricity mix. 

In advanced economies, energy-related CO₂ emissions decreased by 1.1% (120 Mt CO₂) in 2024, driven by a 5.7% decline in coal emissions and a 0.5% drop in oil emissions. Natural gas emissions increased by 0.9%. The reduction reflects advanced economies’ continued deployment of low-emissions energy sources, with renewables and nuclear power accounting for over 50% of electricity generation, led by strong growth in wind and solar.

The United States’ energy-related CO₂ emissions decreased by 0.5% (20 Mt CO₂) in 2024, reflecting mixed trends across fuel sources. Emissions from coal dropped by 4.5% as the country registered the lowest coal power generation levels in nearly 60 years, while oil emissions fell by 0.3%. However, natural gas emissions increased by 1.3%, driven by its role as the largest US electricity source, accounting for almost 43% of the generation mix. For the first time, solar and wind surpassed coal in electricity generation.

The European Union’s energy-related CO₂ emissions decreased by 2.2% (55 Mt CO₂) in 2024. Emissions from coal dropped by 11%, while oil emissions declined by 0.3%. Natural gas emissions remained flat. Power sector emissions fell by almost 10% year-on-year, driven by a record-low fossil fuel share of 28% in electricity generation. Renewables accounted for almost 50% of electricity production, led by wind and solar, which reached a record share of 28%, for the first time surpassing the combined share from coal and gas. Above-average rainfall in the European Union also contributed to increased hydropower generation.

A series of factors shaped the change in CO₂ emissions between 2023 and 2024. Extreme temperatures around the globe and poor wind conditions in Europe drove up fossil fuel use in the power sector. However, a partial recovery from the severe droughts of 2023 allowed for increased hydropower generation, in part offsetting the impact of temperature and wind conditions. Aviation continued its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing to higher emissions. Additionally, 2024 was a leap year, meaning an extra day of emissions – an impact that remains hard to quantify but could be up to 100 Mt CO₂. The cumulative net impact of these effects accounts for more than 90% of the overall increase in emissions, or around 275 Mt CO₂ of the observed increase of 295 Mt.

The rapid deployment of five key clean energy technologies – solar PV, wind power, nuclear power, electric cars and heat pumps – from 2019 to 2024 avoided annual fossil fuel energy demand of more than 30 EJ. This is equivalent to 6% of total global fossil fuel demand in 2024, or more than the combined total energy demand of Japan and Korea last year.

While this progress was not sufficient to halt the rise in global emissions – which have increased by 1.3 Gt CO₂ since 2019 – it has initiated a structural slowdown in energy-related CO₂ emissions. Collectively, these technologies now prevent around 2.6 Gt of emissions annually, equivalent to 7% of global energy-related CO₂ emissions. Without them, the increase in global CO₂ emissions over the same period would have been three times larger. The impact is even more pronounced in some markets. In Australia, China, the European Union and New Zealand, the deployment of these five technologies over the past six years prevented the equivalent of more than 10% of total energy-related emissions in 2024.

At the global level, the deployment of solar PV over the last six years is now avoiding around 1.4 Gt of annual emissions, equivalent to the combined annual emissions of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Avoided annual emissions from wind power amounted to around 900 Mt of CO₂; from nuclear 190 Mt of CO₂; and from electric cars and heat pumps, 80 Mt and 65 Mt of CO₂, respectively. Although the reductions from electric cars and heat pumps are lower than from the other technologies studied, they are set to increase in coming years as stock turnover raises the share of these technologies not just in terms of annual new sales, but also in the overall stock of equipment in use.