Emission Tracking and Climate Change Mitigation: ESG BROADCAST shares key takeaways.
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) recently released its 2025 science for policy report, providing a comprehensive analysis of atmospheric research. This landmark publication reveals that Global GHG Emissions reached a record-breaking 53.2 Gt CO2eq in 2024, excluding land use and forestry. This figure represents the highest level ever recorded in the database, which tracks anthropogenic activities back to 1970. The findings underscore the immense challenge facing international climate agreements as the pace of emissions continues to rise following a temporary drop in 2020.
According to the report, the world witnessed a 1.3% increase in total emissions compared to 2023, equivalent to 665 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Fossil CO2 remains the dominant contributor, accounting for 74.5% of total anthropogenic output in 2024. Other significant contributors include methane at 17.9%, nitrous oxide at 4.8%, and fluorinated gases at 2.8%. While the growth of methane and nitrous oxide has been slower than fossil CO2, F-gases have seen a four-fold increase since 1990.
The 2024 data highlights the significant role of the world’s six largest emitters: China, the United States, India, the EU27, Russia, and Indonesia. These regions collectively account for 51.4% of the global population and 61.8% of Global GHG Emissions. Among these major players, India recorded the largest absolute increase in 2024, adding 164.8 Mt CO2eq to its annual total. Conversely, Indonesia showed the highest relative increase at nearly 5%, while China and the United States also reported higher figures compared to the previous year.
In a notable contrast to other major economies, the European Union continues to demonstrate a decoupling of territorial emissions from economic growth. The EU27’s emissions in 2024 were nearly 35% lower than 1990 levels, reaching approximately 3.2 Gt CO2eq. This 1.8% decrease from 2023 allowed the EU’s global share to drop to 5.9%. Other regions showing a decrease in 2024 included Japan, Mexico, Germany, and South Korea. These trends highlight the varying speeds at which nations are implementing their decarbonization strategies.
Sectoral analysis indicates that the power and transport sectors both grew by approximately 1-2% globally over the last year. International aviation continued its post-pandemic recovery, with emissions increasing by 7.6% between 2023 and 2024. This sector is now only 1.7% below its pre-2020 peak, reflecting a rapid return to high-intensity travel patterns. Meanwhile, industrial combustion and fuel exploitation also contributed to the overall rise in Global GHG Emissions, further complicating the path to net-zero targets.
The report also examines the Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) sector, which acted as a net sink of 1.3 Gt CO2eq when excluding wildfires. However, extreme wildfire seasons in North America and Latin America contributed 2.1 Gt CO2eq to the atmosphere in 2024. Although this is lower than the 2023 wildfire peak, it still represents a significant source of volatility in carbon accounting. Global deforestation remains a major concern, responsible for roughly 9.3% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
Strategic significance lies in the urgent need for enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as the 2025 deadline for new 2035 targets approaches. Businesses and investors must prepare for heightened regulatory scrutiny as 107 countries, representing 82% of global emissions, move to codify net-zero pledges into law. The report’s findings emphasize that current mitigation efforts are insufficient to reverse the upward trend in Global GHG Emissions. Consequently, market players should anticipate more aggressive carbon pricing mechanisms and supply chain reporting requirements to align with the transparency framework of the Paris Agreement.
Image Credit: European Commission – European Union
