UNEP’s EGR 2025: Global GHG Emissions Reach Record 57.7 GtCO₂e in 2024

In November 2025,the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)released the16thedition of a report titled “THE EMISSIONS GAP REPORT(EGR) 2025: OFF TARGET CONTINUED COLLECTIVE INACTION PUTS GLOBAL TEMPERATURE GOAL AT RISKS”. As per the report, the global emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) reached a record high of57.7Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent(GtCO2e)in2024, marking an increase of2.3%compared to 2023 emissions.

• This global increase in GHG emissions in more than 4times higher than the annual average growth rate in 2010s (0.6% per year), and comparable to the emissions growth in 2000s (on average 2.2% per year).
• The report also showed thatIndia(+0.165GtCO2e)recorded the largest year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in emissions, followed by China, Russia, Indonesia and the United States of America (USA).

Key Findings of EGR 2025:

Key Drivers: The global increase in GHG emissions in 2024 was mainly driven by: global net Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) CO2 (+21%); followed by fossil CO2 (+36%).

Temperature Projection:The report highlighted that even if countries fully implement their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), average global temperatures are expected to increase by2.3°Cto 2.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.

• This projection marks a modest increase compared to last year’s2.6°Cto 2.8°C.

NDC Submissions:As of September 2025, only 60 countries (63% of global emissions) had submitted or announced new NDCs for 2035, while just 13 countries representing less than 1% of global emissions had updated their 2030 NDCs.

Global Emitters:As per the report,China, the USA,India,the European Union(EU), RussiaandIndonesiacontinue to be thelargest global emitters, of these, the EU was the only one to decrease emissions in 2024.

• The report further showed countries which recorded the fastest growth rate in emissions: Indonesia(4.6%); India (3.6%) and China (0.5%).

Highest Per Capita Emissions:As per the report, per capita GHG emissions in countries like: the USA, Russia, China and the EU continue to be higher than the global average of6.4 tonnes CO2e.

• While, per capita GHG emissions in India and Indonesia remain below the global average.

G20 Countries Highest Emitter:Apart from emissions from land use, emissions from Group-20 (G20) countries (excluding the African Union,AU) accounted77%of global emissions over 2023-24.

• Although, seven G20 countries have submitted new NDCs, collectively, G20 countries are not on track to achieve their NDC targets for 2030.

Warning:The report cautioned that ongoing delays in meeting Paris Agreement targets make it highly likely that global temperatures will surpass1.5°Cwithin the next decade.

Emissions Reduction Targets:The report recommended that in order to align with2°Cand1.5°Ctargets, countries are required to reduce annual emissions by35%and55%by 2035,compared with 2019 levels, respectively.