--- title: Global CO2 Emissions Hit a Record Even as Europe’s Decline description: Global CO2 emissions rose to a record last year, putting the world on track for a dangerous level of global warming canonical: https://time.com/6259708/global-co2-emissions-record-high/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-03-02T12:49:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:31:15.754Z article:section: Climate og:title: Global CO2 Emissions Hit a Record Even as Europe’s Decline og:description: Global CO2 emissions rose to a record last year, putting the world on track for a dangerous level of global warming og:url: https://time.com/6259708/global-co2-emissions-record-high/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d15c1a066084702/698a3acc4ee262363d31b284/GettyImages-1245696765.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Kraftwerk Weisweiler og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Global CO2 Emissions Hit a Record Even as Europe’s Decline twitter:description: Global CO2 emissions rose to a record last year, putting the world on track for a dangerous level of global warming twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d15c1a066084702/698a3acc4ee262363d31b284/GettyImages-1245696765.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Global CO2 Emissions Hit a Record Even as Europe’s Decline > Sponsored content. 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Thierry Monasse/Getty Images by [William Mathis / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## William Mathis / Bloomberg Contributor Mar 2, 2023 12:49 PM UTC Global CO2 emissions rose to a record last year as the combustion of fossil fuels continued to put the world on track for a dangerous level of global warming. Data from the International Energy Agency show the biggest increase came from Asia’s emerging markets, in large part due to coal-fired power. Yet a decline in industrial production in China and Europe meant an even worse outcome was avoided. “The impacts of the energy crisis didn’t result in the major increase in global emissions that was initially feared,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “However, we still see emissions growing from fossil fuels, hindering efforts to meet the world’s climate targets.” Energy-related emissions rose 0.9% to more than 36.8 billion metric tons in 2022, IEA data show. Emissions in the European Union fell 2.5% as a mild winter cut demand for heating and soaring natural gas prices prompted industries to shutter production. China, the world’s biggest emitter, saw a slight drop of 0.2% as weaker economic growth, slowing construction and measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 inhibited energy use. In the U.S., emissions grew by 0.8% as exceptionally cold weather at the beginning of the year boosted heating demand. Overall, extreme weather events contributed to about a fifth of last year’s growth in emissions. 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