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  • Year in Review
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Climate chronicles

Global carbon emissions in 2023

Global CO2 emissions for 2023 increased by only 0.1% relative to 2022 (following increases of 5.4% and 1.9% in 2021 and 2022, respectively), reaching 35.8 Gt CO2. These 2023 emissions consumed 10–66.7% of the remaining carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5°C, suggesting permissible emissions could be depleted within 0.5–6 years (67% likelihood).

Key points

  • Data from the Carbon Monitor indicate 35.8 Gt CO2 were emitted globally in 2023.

  • Although the trend is upwards, the pace of growth has been slowing, suggesting global emissions might have plateaued.

  • India overtook the EU as the third highest emitter globally.

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Fig. 1: Global CO2 emissions 1970–2023.

References

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Correspondence to Zhu Liu.

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Liu, Z., Deng, Z., Davis, S.J. et al. Global carbon emissions in 2023. Nat Rev Earth Environ 5, 253–254 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00532-2

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