U.N. report finds U.S. emissions rose while global total held steady

Global talks in Turkey will address clean energy investment and climate costs

A new United Nations report says the United States was the only major economy where planet-warming pollution increased dramatically last year, while global emissions were essentially unchanged. Compiled annually by an international group of scientists, the report also found the United States tied Russia for the highest per-capita greenhouse gas emissions among G20 countries.

China emits significantly more total greenhouse gases each year than the United States, but China’s population is more than four times the U.S. population, according to the report.

The Paris Climate Agreement sets a goal of limiting warming to well below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius. The report says it is still possible to keep warming below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit if global greenhouse gas emissions fall by about 25% in the next decade. This is the first year the annual report has acknowledged that even lower targets are now out of reach. Countries are currently lagging far behind that goal.

Under the Paris agreement, about two-thirds of countries have submitted formal, up-to-date plans for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. If every country that submitted a plan follows through, those plans would reduce emissions by about 15% in the next decade, far less than the 25% needed.

The report said U.S. emissions grew because of increased electricity demand and Trump administration policies that support the burning of fossil fuels. The administration has ordered coal-fired power plants to stay open longer than planned, rolled back fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles and ended tax credits for solar and wind projects.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, said those policies had made the United States an outlier. “Right now, everybody is scrambling a little bit regarding energy security,” she said, pointing to global oil and gas disruptions stemming from the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Andersen also said several G20 members had shown sustained emissions reductions. That includes the European Union, which has invested heavily in energy-efficient appliances and renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar, partly in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has withdrawn from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and is working to remove the United States from all U.N. climate work, arguing that the international system imposes unfair burdens on Americans. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now says greenhouse gases do not pose a threat to human health and welfare, reversing its previous position.

The report included a statement from the U.S. government saying the United States “does not endorse or agree with its analysis or conclusions, and has not provided comments to this report.” The U.S. State Department did not respond to NPR’s questions.

The report comes less than a month before global climate talks begin in Turkey. World leaders will gather to discuss how to speed investments in clean energy and how to pay for the costs of dealing with climate change. The Trump administration will not participate.

Still, whether or not American leaders formally participate in international climate efforts, the United Nations warns that the effects of America’s reliance on oil, gas and coal are being felt around the world. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping extra heat that warms the entire planet. The effects of that pollution are felt globally.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the Earth is about 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.5 degrees Celsius, warmer on average than it was in the mid-1800s. That warming is driving widespread disasters, from deadly heat waves and floods to more intense storms and wildfires. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “All countries, especially the big emitters, must do more.” He added, “Every fraction of a degree matters.”

The report warns that the planet is on track for upwards of 5 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2.8 degrees Celsius, of warming this century. That would cause catastrophic impacts, including massive sea-level rise and the mass extinction of plants and animals.

In January, MSI reported that the Trump administration had begun withdrawing the United States from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and several other international environmental bodies. The new report finds that U.S. planet-warming pollution increased dramatically while the administration remained outside the Paris Climate Agreement and continued working to remove the United States from U.N. climate work; the administration also will not participate in the Turkey talks.