The climate dialogue has been broken for almost a year between China and the United States, the two largest emitters of CO2 on the planet. Despite diplomatic tensions on other subjects, including Taiwan, the two countries will try to relaunch their climate cooperation, from Sunday July 16, on the occasion of the visit of John Kerry to Beijing, the American special envoy for the climate. The senior official, who is making his third trip to China since taking office in 2021, comes at a time when the impact of climate change is particularly felt, with heat waves in many parts of the world. China is no exception and its capital Beijing has been experiencing temperatures of around 40 degrees for weeks.
John Kerry, who will be in China until Wednesday, is to meet his counterpart Xie Zhenhua there. From Monday, “China and the United States will have an in-depth exchange of views” on climate issues, reported Chinese public television CCTV, at the time of the arrival of the American envoy to Beijing. The former head of American diplomacy will discuss in particular an “increase in ambitions and the implementation” of climate regulations, and on the “promotion of a successful COP28”, which will take place in Dubai at the end of the year. While China and the United States account for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, ten countries are responsible for two-thirds of global pollution (69%). The Express make the point.
China, the United States, India and Russia in the lead
In 2022, global CO2 emissions into the atmosphere reached 40.6 billion tonnes of CO2, a record. Unsurprisingly, it is the most populated and industrialized countries that appear at the top of the ranking of the most polluting countries in the world. The largest share of human-related emissions is generated in China, around 33% of the total, followed by the United States (12.6%) and India (7%), according to the most recent data from there European Commission, via the Statista data portal. Together, these three states account for nearly half of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Followed by Russia (5.1%), Japan (2.9%), Iran (1.9%), Germany (1.8%), South Korea (1.7%), Indonesia (1.6%) and Saudi Arabia (1.5%).
In Europe, Germany is an outsider, being the European country that emits the most CO2. This is largely linked to its heavy dependence on coal. In addition, some highly industrialized countries, such as Canada (which escapes the classification) or Russia, manage to have a better carbon balance, thanks to the immense forests that capture carbon. Also, if we consider the size of the populations, CO2 emissions per capita remain significantly higher in Europe and North America than in Asia.