US leads global CO2 emissions increase in 2025, report finds

The United States accounted for about a third of the rise in global carbon emissions in ​2025, as higher gas prices pushed power producers ‌back to coal, an Energy Institute report showed.

The report, produced in partnership with Ember, Kearney Institute and KPMG, also found that US coal consumption jumped 10% last year, reversing a shift towards cleaner fuels and lifting overall emissions.

Global carbon emissions from the energy sector rose 1.1% to 35,806 million metric tons of carbon dioxide - more than a third of this increase came from the US, the report noted, adding that North America’s increase bucked the 10-year trend of emissions falling by 0.7%.

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Meanwhile, the global energy-related demand continued to grow.

The report highlighted that the total energy supply rose 1.7% from ​2024, with renewables contributing the largest share of that increase. Renewable ‌power ⁠generation climbed 9.1%, led by a 30% surge in solar.

It said Europe’s carbon emissions from the energy sector increased by 0.5%, while China's rose by 0.7% in ​2025. Side by side, electricity demand rose ​faster than ⁠the supply, increasing 3% year-on-year, driven by electric vehicles, data centres and artificial intelligence.

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Global oil consumption also rose 1.3% in 2025 to 103 million barrels per day, compared with a 1.1% increase in 2024, while production grew by 3.5%, according to the report.

In China, gasoline and diesel use declined last year, extending a trend seen in 2024, the report said.

Gas demand growth was concentrated in Europe, the Middle East and North America, with Europe and India relying on imports for nearly half of their supply, the report concluded.