Asia holds key to CO2 emissions crisis

Ten Asian countries that we analyzed had 16,320 million tons (Mt) of CO2 emissions in 2019, almost 50% of the 36,441 Mt global total.  As we demonstrate, their economic growth comes at a very high ‘carbon cost’. Any solution to the global problem of CO2 emissions therefore has to be Asia-focused. 

The latest available country data from the International Energy Agency Global Carbon Atlas show that China was by far the biggest emitter of CO2 in 2019, with an emissions total of 10,175 Mt. It was followed by the United States with 5,285 Mt and India with 2,616 Mt. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant decline in global emissions in 2020, but the reduction appears to have been much more modest in China where restrictions occurred early in the year and lockdown measures were more time-limited.  

It is no surprise that the world’s biggest economies should be amongst the top emitters of CO2, although there is not a simple link between GDP and C02 emissions —Russia and…