Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased 0.50% by 303.19 Mt CO2e last year, reaching a new high of 60.63 Bt CO₂e, according to Climate TRACE’s 2025 emissions data.
Global methane emissions increased 1.03% or 4.2 Mt CH4 in 2025, rebounding from a decline in 2024 to set a new annual record of 412.59 Mt CH4, surpassing the previous record set in 2023.
Despite a small decline in power sector emissions, fossil fuel operations, transportation, manufacturing, and buildings all nudged global greenhouse gas emissions higher.
Oil and gas production was the subsector with the largest jump in emissions, increasing 4.1%.
The biggest movers in the power sector were China, India, and the United States. For the first time since at least 2015, emissions from China’s power sector decreased year over year, but that decline was offset by an equivalent increase in U.S. power emissions. Meanwhile, India’s power sector emissions fell for the first time since 2020.
And, road transportation emissions increased globally, but dropped in Nordic countries where electric vehicle (EV) adoption is high.
Key takeaways:
· In 2025, Russia’s emissions increased the most of any country in the world, while India had the largest drop in emissions.
· Across 10 major emitting sectors, the most significant growth in emissions in 2025 came from fossil fuel operations, with emissions rising 1.56% or 151.57 Mt CO2e. Emissions also rose in the transportation, manufacturing, and buildings sectors last year.
· The power sector continues to be the largest source of global emissions in 2025.
· China and the United States continue to be the first and second largest sources of emissions, by country.
· Clean energy solutions like renewable sources of power and electric vehicles are taking hold in many locations around the world, and as a result, emissions are beginning to decline in these regions.
