Dirty Dozen tracks world emissions

Climate watchers need to look beyond China to gain a full read on global emissions trends tied to energy extraction and generation.

- Gavin Maguire

To be sure, China has played an outsized role in driving global energy sector emissions to record highs for decades, and generates far more energy-related emissions than any other nation. But while China has been the chief driver of energy emissions trends so far this century, other nations including India, Indonesia and Vietnam will play a key role in determining future pollution trends. That means any attempts to gauge the potential trajectory of global energy emissions must include the discharge patterns of a widening group of nations beyond China.

Given China's clout as the world's largest energy consumer and power producer, it must retain a central role in efforts aimed at measuring and predicting global emissions trends. However, several other nations merit inclusion in such efforts given the steady swell in their collective energy-related pollution.

Indeed, eleven other nations stand out globally as key current and potential drivers of worldwide energy emissions trends given their track record of steadily boosting pollution tied to energy production and use.

Between 2019 and 2024, 12 countries consistently lifted their annual energy-related emissions by at least 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, according to data compiled by the Energy Institute.

In descending order of annual emissions growth during 2019 to 2024, those nations are: China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Iran, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh.