Nicolai Haugsted
The UN warns that the US is heading in the wrong direction while other major economies cut emissions.
The world’s biggest economies have spent years promising to reduce the pollution responsible for global warming, investing in cleaner technologies and setting increasingly ambitious environmental targets.
Progress, however, remains frustratingly slow.
A new United Nations report warns that international efforts are still falling far short of what scientists say is necessary to prevent dangerous levels of climate change.
But while several major economies have managed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, one country is moving in the opposite direction.
And it happens to be the world’s second-largest emitter.
According to the UN Environment Programme’s latest Emissions Gap Report, the United States stands out as the only major economy to have recorded a dramatic increase in climate-warming pollution last year.
The findings arrive as Donald Trump’s administration continues dismantling American climate policies and distancing Washington from international environmental cooperation.
America is heading in the wrong direction
The report paints a concerning picture of global climate progress, but the American figures are particularly striking.
While worldwide greenhouse gas emissions remained roughly unchanged compared with the previous year, US emissions increased substantially.
The rise was partly driven by growing electricity demand, but UN officials also point to the Trump administration’s support for fossil fuels.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has introduced several measures designed to strengthen traditional energy production.
His administration has ordered certain coal-fired power stations to remain operational beyond their planned closure dates, weakened vehicle fuel-efficiency requirements and eliminated tax incentives for solar and wind energy projects.
Those decisions have contributed to America’s increasingly unusual position among major economies, according to Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.
“Right now, everybody is scrambling a little bit regarding energy security,” Andersen said, referring to disruptions in global energy markets caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
However, she emphasized that energy insecurity has not prevented other major economies from making progress.
“Several G20 members have shown sustained emissions reduction,” she said.
The European Union is among them.
European countries have invested heavily in renewable electricity and energy-efficient technologies, partly to reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The US is distancing itself from global climate cooperation
The findings come as Washington continues withdrawing from international climate initiatives.
Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement and is seeking to end American participation in broader UN climate activities.
The administration argues that international climate commitments place unfair economic burdens on American citizens and businesses.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has reversed its previous position that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare.
The United States also made its disagreement with the latest UN findings explicit.
According to a statement included in the report, the American government “does not endorse or agree with its analysis or conclusions, and has not provided comments to this report.”
The State Department did not respond to NPR’s questions about the findings.
Washington’s position also means American officials will not participate in the upcoming international climate negotiations in Turkey.
World leaders are expected to discuss how to accelerate investment in clean energy and finance measures to address the consequences of global warming.
But the absence of the United States will leave one of the world’s largest polluters outside the formal discussions.
The climate numbers are difficult to ignore
The United States also ranks among the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters when emissions are measured per person.
According to the report, America was tied with Russia for the highest per-capita emissions among the major emitters last year.
China produces considerably more greenhouse gases overall, but its population is more than four times larger than that of the United States.
The distinction matters because both total emissions and emissions per person provide different perspectives on countries’ contributions to global warming.
Scientists warn that the consequences of continued fossil fuel use extend far beyond national borders.
Burning coal, oil and natural gas releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, global temperatures are now approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
The warming is contributing to more severe heat waves, flooding, wildfires and extreme weather events around the world.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to accelerate their efforts.
“All countries, especially the big emitters, must do more,” he said.
“Every fraction of a degree matters.”
The world is heading toward dangerous warming
The UN report also delivers a warning about the planet’s longer-term future.
Under current policies and commitments, global temperatures could rise by approximately 2.8 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Such warming would increase the risk of severe environmental damage, including substantial sea-level rise and widespread losses of plant and animal species.
The Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees.
However, the latest report acknowledges that the lower target can no longer realistically be achieved without at least temporarily exceeding it.
Keeping warming below 2 degrees remains possible, but it would require significantly faster reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the UN, global emissions would need to fall by approximately 25 percent over the next decade.
Current national commitments are nowhere near that ambitious.
Roughly two-thirds of countries have submitted updated emissions-reduction plans under the Paris Agreement.
Even if those governments fulfill every promise, the report estimates that global emissions would decline by only around 15 percent over the next decade.
