China emitted more greenhouse gases (GHG) than the United States and all other developed countries combined in 2019, according to a report published on May 6 by New York-based research firm Rhodium Group.
The report found that China alone was responsible for over 27 percent of total global emissions, with the United States being a distant second at 11 percent. India was ranked third with 6.6 percent, followed by the 27-country bloc of the European Union at 6.4 percent.
China’s emission reached nearly 14.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2019, more than triple 1990 levels and a 25 percent increase over the past decade, according to the report. Global emissions in 2019 topped 52 gigatons.
Additionally, China’s per capita emission reached 10.1 tons in 2019, which increased nearly three times over the past two decades, according to the report. The figure was slightly lower than the 10.5 tons per capita average found across the 37 nations making up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
“While final global data for 2020 is not yet available, we expect China’s per capita emissions exceeded the OECD average in 2020, as China’s net GHG emissions grew around 1.7% while emissions from almost all other nations declined sharply in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report stated.
China is the world’s largest coal producer and user. According to data from San Francisco-based NGO Global Energy Monitor, there were 1,082 coal-fired power stations operating in China as of January this year. Moreover, China is building 92 more stations and 135 are in the pre-construction phase.
Meanwhile, Beijing has also been financing fossil projects at countries that have signed up to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI, also known as “One Belt, One Road”). According to the New York-based nonprofit Council of Foreign Relations, China was involved in 240 coal plants in these countries in 2016.
BY FRANK FANG
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