India's Power Sector Emissions Fall 2.6 Percent in 2025 Led by Renewables

India recorded the largest drop in greenhouse gas emissions among all major countries in 2025, driven by a 2.6 per cent decline in power sector emissions — the first such fall since 2020 — according to data from the independent Climate TRACE monitoring coalition. The decline occurred despite rising electricity demand and sustained economic growth, indicating that rapid renewable energy deployment is beginning to moderate the carbon intensity of electricity generation.

Climate TRACE data shows that global power sector emissions fell by 0.13 per cent or 20.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2025, the first decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, with most of the reduction driven by India and China. Between 2015 and 2024, India's power sector emissions had risen by 34.6 per cent. The 2025 shift marks a meaningful break in trend. Overall global greenhouse gas emissions, however, increased across most other sectors, with fossil fuel operations recording the largest sectoral rise at 1.56 per cent or 151.57 million tonnes CO2 equivalent. Transportation, manufacturing and buildings also recorded higher emissions.

At the city level, Indian industrial hubs showed divergent trends. Butibori in Maharashtra and Yamunanagar in Haryana were among cities worldwide with the largest percentage emissions increases in 2025, while Mettur in Tamil Nadu was among those with the biggest global declines. Despite the power sector improvement, India's overall emissions edged up in December 2025, rising by 4.77 million tonnes CO2e or 1.34 per cent compared with December 2024. Russia recorded the largest overall national emissions increase in 2025, at 51.6 million tonnes or 1.64 per cent.

Oil and gas production recorded the largest increase among 64 sub-sectors tracked by Climate TRACE, rising 4.1 per cent in 2025, with Russia's oil and gas output driving the bulk of that growth. Kazakhstan, China, Saudi Arabia and Brazil also contributed significantly. The findings highlight a widening divergence: while clean energy expansion slows power sector growth in major economies, rising fossil fuel production and transport activity continue pushing global emissions higher. The rate of global emissions growth has nonetheless halved from a 2013-2023 average of 1.1 per cent per year to 0.5 per cent in 2025.

Key figure — 2.6 per cent decline in India's power sector emissions in 2025 — first drop since 2020