China Now Emits More Greenhouse Gases Than Developed World Combined, Report Finds

Climate

Smoke billows from an unauthorized steel factory on November 4, 2016 in Inner Mongolia, China. Kevin Frayer / Getty Images

China now emits more greenhouse gas pollution than the 37 member nations of the OECD combined, a new report from the Rhodium Group says.


China’s climate pollution has increased dramatically in recent decades and its cumulative emissions since 1750 are still far smaller than the cumulative pollution emitted by OECD nations.

China now accounts for more than a quarter of global climate pollution, well over double the U.S., Earth’s second-largest polluter, which accounts for 11% of global climate pollutants.

China’s much larger population, however, means its per-capita emissions are still far lower than the U.S., which remains the world’s worst polluter per-capita.

For a deeper dive:

Bloomberg, Washington Post, Reuters, Axios, The Hill, Ars Technica, CNBC, The Independent

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