China and India are undergoing the combustion of higher levels of greenhouse gases due to climatic change.
GHG emissions of China increased by 13 billion tons in 2021 while it also achieved an increase of 4.3 percent compared to the previous year. This according to the first biennial report on climate change that the nation presented to UNFCCC as recently as December 2024. According to the report, China’s emissions have already crossed 70 percent more than what they were in 2005 and mainly because of the consumption of energy, which is growing.
The largest emitters in China were within the energy sector, accounting for 11 billion tonnes and constituting 76.9% of the total emissions in 2021. This increase reflects how dependent the nation is on fossil fuels to fuel the ever-rising needs for energy in the country, despite their efforts to diversify the mix of energy resources. This development shows that the nation, though with efforts placed, still remains challenged on a balance of growth need with climate obligations.
Emissions from Other Sectors
Other sectors are represented within the overall emissions in China, for example cement and steel. Cement has indicated 802 million tonnes for 2021, which has been reported to drop by 3.2%. The emissions produced from steel smelting decreased by 2.3% to 65.5 million tonnes. That is very positive, but the volumes are utterly miniscule compared with increases in the emissions produced by energy-producing sectors.
China, ambitious as its climate goals are, sets a target at reducing carbon dioxide per unit of economic growth to 18% for the years between 2021-2025. Several challenges stand in the way of the country in the course of pursuing attainment of its stated goals owing to its heavy reliance on coal and other fossil fuels in order to sate its needs for energy.
In addition to this, the Chinese government stated that it has to invest a mind-boggling 26.8 trillion yuan ($3.66 trillion) from 2024 and onward to achieve carbon neutrality in 2060. The humongous cost highlights the scale of the challenge China faces in transforming its energy infrastructure and lowering emissions as part of its long-term climate goals.
Position of China in the Global Emissions Chart
Whenever there is any climate talk, a country’s discussion about it is a must. Being one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the world, China has always been a party to the 2015 Paris Agreement, to which it had promised to deliver periodical progress updates on emission level and any advancements regarding combating or adapting to climate change. The last public available data of China indicates how tough it has been for the country to stay on course with the lowering of its emission rate while the country continues with the development of renewable energy sources. On the contrary, the total emissions by India were said to be 11.55 billion tonnes based on the last official set of statistics of 2017 China’s Emissions.
India’s GHG Emissions and Climate Target
The country releasing greenhouse gases is ranked third as presented in the report submitted to UNFCCC as India’s fourth biennial update report, and in this, it has demonstrated that India has released 2.4 billion tonnes of emissions during 2020. As reported, it states that currently, the country’s current emission has been reduced by 7.93% compared to last year, which is a good sign for India in the case of climate change.
The largest source of India’s emissions is the energy sector, accounting for 75.7% in 2020. Improving energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy capacity have been efforts toward reducing emissions; however, growing energy demand remains the driver of rising emission levels.
In this context, the aggregate emissions of India during the period between 1994 and 2020 increased a staggering 144%. In tandem, this nation has managed to achieve huge cuts in carbon intensity. During the period 2005-2020, India registered an emission intensity of GDP decline of as much as 36%, and that was very important, indicative of how this country can potentially decouple its economic growth with emissions.
In this effort, India agreed to reduce the strength of its GDP emission by 45% from the level reported in 2005 by the year 2030. The 2022 adjustment accepts that urgent attention is needed in addressing climate change without breaking the development wheels.
Current Challenges and Future Perspective
It still remains a challenge for the future to the twinhead of economic growth and climate action, for both China and India. For China, its dependence on coal and other fossil fuels for energy has still been one major barrier to its journey towards abating emissions. Even though it has registered notable investments made in the profile of renewable energy, the country finds energy demand spiking more than cleaner energy’s growth.
India also shares the same challenge as it is exerting very much of an effort in producing enough quantities of energy and to reduce emissions especially in growing demands of supplies. Because of India’s reliance on coal-based power plants in addition to a fast-growing population, it is limiting itself from achieving further strides in terms of attaining climate targets. But India has somehow gained hope after reducing its emission intensity along with scaling up the renewable energy capacity in the country.
China and India will play very critical roles in international efforts on climate change; both countries are among the largest emitters, with India being the third-largest, and their activities will shape whether the world can limit its warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.