The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports an increase in global CO2 emissions by the end of 2023. As The Wall Street Journal reports, citing data from the organization, all the “green” efforts of the EU and the US to improve the environment have come to naught due to pollution in India and China.
The rise in global carbon dioxide emissions was also influenced by drought in many countries, due to which some large hydroelectric power plants stopped working.
If we talk about numbers, the IEA talks about 37.4 billion tons, which is 410 million tons (+1.1%) more than in 2022. Experts point to the fact that the economies and populations of India and China are still heavily dependent on coal, especially as they recover from the pandemic.
In India, emissions increased by 7% over the year. The country experienced an extremely weak monsoon in 2023, which contributed to a decline in hydroelectric power generation. China recorded an increase of 5.2% to 12.6 billion tons, which is the largest emissions of any country in the world.