A new report released late week found that communist China’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were higher than the rest of the developed world combined.
The report was published by the Rhodium Group, a leading independent research provider that specializes in matters involving China, energy & climate, India, and economics.
“Using our newly updated global emissions data through 2019, we estimate that in 2019, for the first time since national greenhouse gas emissions have been measured, China’s annual emissions exceeded those of all developed countries combined,” the report said. “China’s emissions were less than a quarter of developed country emissions in 1990, but over the past three decades have more than tripled, reaching over 14 gigatons of CO2-equivalent in 2019.”
In 2019, for the first time, China’s annual emissions exceeded those of all developed countries combined. China’s emissions were less than a quarter of developed country emissions in 1990, but over the past 3 decades have more than tripled, reaching over 14 gigatons of CO2e. 2/5 pic.twitter.com/1NGcHGXJxd
— Rhodium Group (@rhodium_group) May 6, 2021
China now accounts for 27% of the total global emissions, while the U.S. only accounts for 11%. India now accounts for the third highest output of emissions at 6.6%, outpacing Europe for the first time. The report appeared to try to downplay negative views that people may develop toward China — even as negative views toward China have reached historic highs because of the pandemic — by trying to claim that any current climate issues that exist are not really China’s fault because their economic boom only happened in recent years.
The report added:
But China is a large country, home to over 1.4 billion people. To date, China’s size has meant that its per capita emissions have remained considerably lower than those in the developed world. … While China exceeded all developed countries combined in terms of annual emissions and came very close to matching per capita emissions in 2019, China’s history as a major emitter is relatively short compared to developed countries, many of which had more than a century head start.
A separate analysis from the firm estimated that China’s emissions grew in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan and subsequently wreaked havoc across the world.
“Based on preliminary economic and energy data, we estimate that total GHG emissions in China increased 1.7% in 2020, reaching 14,400 million metric tons (MMt) of CO2e,” the report said. “To put that figure in context, we estimate that is the equivalent of the total annual emissions of nearly 180 of the world’s lowest-emitting countries combined.”
The report was so damning that even far-left climate activist Greta Thunberg slammed China on Twitter, essentially saying that China will ruin the world unless they cut emissions.
“Yes, China is still categorized as a developing nation by WTO, they manufacture a lot of our products and so on. But that’s of course no excuse for ruining future and present living conditions. We can’t solve the climate crisis unless China drastically changes course,” Thunberg tweeted. “As CO2 emissions stay in the atmosphere up to 1,000 years we of course need to look at historic emissions and in context to population and emissions per capita. And developed nation [sic] must lead so others can raise their living standards. As I say all the time.”