Global carbon emissions from energy hit record high for fourth year running

By: Team India Tracker

The findings underscore the mounting difficulty of shifting away from fossil fuels, particularly in the face of ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Global carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector surged to a new peak in 2024, marking the fourth straight year of record-breaking highs, according to the latest report by the Energy Institute. Despite strong growth in renewable energy, the world’s reliance on fossil fuels continues to deepen, fueling the ongoing rise in emissions. The report reveals that global energy supply grew by 2 percent last year, with every major source, including oil, gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, and renewables, posting gains. This expansion pushed carbon emissions up by 1 percent, surpassing the previous record of 40.8 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. Among fossil fuels, natural gas saw the sharpest rise, increasing by 2.5 percent, followed by coal at 1.2 percent. Oil demand also edged higher, though by less than 1 percent.

Meanwhile, wind and solar power continued their rapid ascent, growing by 16 percent, nearly nine times faster than the global rise in energy demand. Yet even this impressive momentum is proving insufficient to curb the dominance of carbon-intensive sources.

The findings underscore the mounting difficulty of shifting away from fossil fuels, particularly in the face of ongoing geopolitical tensions. The war in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East have disrupted oil and gas supplies, complicating global energy transitions. Adding to the urgency, 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded, with average global temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time.

Experts caution that current efforts fall short of the climate ambitions set at the COP28 summit in 2023, where world leaders pledged to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030. “While renewables are growing fast, the pace remains patchy and inadequate to meet critical climate goals,” said Wafa Jafri, partner at KPMG.

Electricity demand continued to rise sharply in 2024, growing by 4 percent, outpacing overall energy demand and signaling the ongoing global shift toward electrification. Wind and solar remained the fastest-growing segments of the energy sector, expanding by 16 percent during the year. China played a dominant role in this growth, accounting for 57 percent of all new wind and solar capacity, with its solar output nearly doubling over the past two years. Over the last decade, China has nearly doubled its electricity supply, adding 405 terawatt-hours, more than Europe’s entire electricity generation for 2024. In that year alone, China’s renewable energy additions were twice as large as the combined contributions of the US, Europe, and India. 

Source: Energy Institute

The deployment of renewables in non-OECD nations has also surged, growing at twice the pace of OECD countries over the past ten years. The Asia-Pacific region, in particular, has reaped significant benefits from diversifying its energy mix, accounting for half of the avoided fossil fuel use globally in 2024, followed by Europe at 22 percent. Notably, excluding hydropower, China was responsible for 57 percent of all renewable power supply additions worldwide last year.

Global carbon emissions rose by approximately 1 percent in 2024, surpassing the previous year’s record to reach 40.8 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. Since 2010, the combined impact of renewables and nuclear energy has prevented around 109 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to roughly 2.5 times the world’s total emissions in 2024. China remains the largest contributor to global emissions, responsible for about one-third of the total. Together with India, the two countries accounted for 62 percent of the global increase in emissions last year.

The Energy Institute, an industry body representing professionals across the energy sector, along with consulting firms KPMG and Kearney, took over authorship of the annual report from BP last year. Despite record levels of renewable energy being added, analysts monitoring global progress have warned that the world remains off track to achieve the target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.