CO2Emissions
in2022INTERNATIONALENERGY
AGENCY
TheIEAexaminestheIEAmemberIEAassociation
fullspectrumcountries:countries:
ofenergyissues
includingoil,gasandAustraliaArgentina
coalsupplyandAustriaBrazil
demand,renewable
BelgiumChina
energytechnologies,
electricitymarkets,CanadaEgypt
energyefficiency,CzechRepublicIndia
accesstoenergy,DenmarkIndonesia
demandsideEstoniaMorocco
managementandFinlandSingapore
muchmore.ThroughFranceSouthAfrica
itswork,theIEAGermanyThailand
advocatespoliciesthatGreeceUkraine
willenhancetheHungary
reliability,affordabilityIreland
andsustainabilityof
Italy
energyinits
31membercountries,Japan
11associationcountriesKorea
andbeyond.Lithuania
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
NewZealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
SlovakRepublic
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
RepublicofTürkiye
ThispublicationandanyUnitedKingdom
mapincludedhereinareUnitedStates
withoutprejudicetothe
statusoforsovereigntyover
anyterritory,tothe
delimitationofinternational
frontiersandboundariesand
tothenameofanyterritory,TheEuropean
cityorareamissionalso
participatesinthe
workoftheIEA
Source:IEA.
InternationalEnergyAgency
Website:ieaCO2Emissionsin2022Growthinemissionslowerthanfeared
Keymessages
Globalenergy-relatedCO2emissionsgrewby0.9%or321Mtin2022,
reachinganewhighofover36.8Gt.Followingtwoyearsofexceptional
oscillationsinenergyuseandemissions,causedinpartbytheCovid-19
pandemic,lastyear’sgrowthwasmuchslowerthan2021’sreboundofmore
than6%.Emissionsfromenergycombustionincreasedby423Mt,while
emissionsfromindustrialprocessesdecreasedby102Mt.
Inayearmarkedbyenergypriceshocks,risinginflation,anddisruptionsto
traditionalfueltradeflows,globalgrowthinemissionswaslowerthan
feared,despitegas-to-coalswitchinginmanycountries.Increaseddeployment
ofcleanenergytechnologiessuchasrenewables,electricvehicles,andheat
pumpshelpedpreventanadditional550MtinCO2emissions.Industrial
productioncurtailment,particularlyinChinaandEurope,alsoaverted
additionalemissions.
Specificchallengesin2022contributedtothegrowthinemissions.Ofthe
321MtCO2increase,60MtCO2canbeattributedtocoolingandheating
demandinextremeweatherandanother55MtCO2tonuclearpowerplants
beingoffline.
CO2growthin2022waswellbelowglobalGDPgrowthof3.2%,reverting
toadecade-longtrendofdecouplingemissionsandeconomicgrowththatwas
brokenby2021’ssharpreboundinemissions.ImprovementsintheCO2
intensityofenergyusewereslightlyslowerthanthepastdecade’saverage.
Emissionsfromnaturalgasfellby1.6%or118Mt,followingcontinued
tighteningofsupplyexacerbatedbyRussia’sinvasionofUkraine.Reductions
inemissionsfromgaswereparticularlypronouncedinEurope(-13.5%).The
AsiaPacificregionalsosawunprecedentedreductions(-1.8%).
Increasedemissionsfromcoalmorethanoffsetreductionsfromnatural
gas.Amidawaveofgas-to-coalswitchingduringtheglobalenergycrisis,CO2
emissionsfromcoalgrewby1.6%or243Mt,farexceedingthelastdecade’s
averagegrowthrate,andreachinganewall-timehighofalmost15.5Gt.
Emissionsfromoilgrewevenmorethanemissionsfromcoal,risingby
2.5%or268Mtto11.2Gt.Aroundhalfoftheincreasecamefromaviation,as
airtravelcontinuedtoreboundfrompandemiclows,nearing80%of2019
levels.Temperingthisincrease,electricvehiclescontinuedtogainmomentum
in2022,withover10millioncarssold,exceeding14%ofglobalcarsales.
Thebiggestsectoralincreaseinemissionsin2022camefromelectricity
andheatgeneration,whoseemissionswereupby1.8%or261Mt.In
particular,globalemissionsfromcoal-firedelectricityandheatgenerationgrew
by224Mtor2.1%,ledbyemergingeconomiesinAsia.
Astrongexpansionofrenewableslimitedthereboundincoalpower
emissions.Renewablesmet90%oflastyear’sglobalgrowthinelectricity
4.0.
PAGE|3BYCCIEA.CO2Emissionsin2022Growthinemissionslowerthanfeared
generation.SolarPVandwindgenerationeachincreasedbyaround275TWh,
anewannualrecord.
Emissionsfromindustrydeclinedby1.7%to9.2Gtlastyear.Whileseveral
regionssawmanufacturingcurtailments,theglobaldeclinewaslargelydriven
bya161MtCO2decreaseinChina’sindustryemissions,reflectinga10%
declineincementproductionanda2%declineinsteelmaking.
China’semissionswererelativelyflatin2022,decliningby23Mtor0.2%.
Growingemissionsfromcombustionwereoffsetbydeclinesfromindustrial
processes.Weakereconomicgrowth,decliningconstructionactivity,andstrict
Covid-19measuresledtoreductionsinindustrialandtransportemissions.
Powersectoremissionsgrowthslowedcomparedwiththeaverageofthepast
decadebutstillreached2.6%.
TheEuropeanUnionsawa2.5%or70MtreductioninCO2emissions
despiteoilandgasmarketdisruptions,hydroshortfallsduetodrought,and
numerousnuclearplantsgoingoffline.Buildingssectoremissionsfellmarkedly,
helpedbyamildwinter.Althoughpowersectoremissionsincreasedby3.4%,
coalusewasnotashighasanticipated.Forthefirsttime,electricitygeneration
fromwindandsolarPVcombinedexceededthatofgasornuclear.
USemissionsgrewby0.8%or36Mt.Thebuildingssectorsawthe
highestemissionsgrowth,drivenbyextremetemperatures.Themain
emissionsreductionscamefromelectricityandheatgeneration,thanksto
unprecedentedincreasesinsolarPVandwind,aswellascoal-to-gas
switching.Whilemanyothercountriesreducedtheirnaturalgasuse,the
UnitedStatessawanincreaseof89MtinCO2emissionsfromgas,asitwas
calledupontomeetpeakelectricitydemandduringsummerheatwaves.
EmissionsfromAsia’semergingmarketanddevelopingeconomies,
excludingChina,grewmorethanthosefromanyotherregionin2022,
increasingby4.2%or206MtCO2.Overhalfoftheregion’sincreasein
emissionscamefromcoal-firedpowergeneration.
ThisreportisthefirstintheIEA’snewseries,theGlobalEnergyTransitions
Stocktake.ThenewtrackerconsolidatestheIEA’slatestanalysisinoneplace,
makingitfreelyaccessibleinsupportofthefirstGlobalStocktakeinthelead-
uptoCOP28.
4.0.
PAGE|4BYCCIEA.CO2Emissionsin2022Growthinemissionslowerthanfeared
Energy-relatedCO2emissionsgrewby0.9%toover
36.8Gtin2022
Globalcarbondioxide(CO2)emissionsfromenergycombustionandindustrial
processes1grew0.9%or321Mtin2022toanewall-timehighof36.8Gt.This
estimateisbasedontheIEA’sdetailedregion-by-regionandfuel-by-fuelanalysis,
incorporatingthelatestofficialnationalstatisticsandpubliclyavailabledataon
energyuse,economicindicators,andweather.
Lastyear’sincreasefollowstwoyearsofexceptionaloscillationsinenergy-related
emissions.Emissionsshrankbymorethan5%in2020,astheCovid-19pandemic
cutenergydemand.In2021,emissionsreboundedpastpre-pandemiclevels,
growingmorethan6%intandemwitheconomicstimulusandtheroll-outof
vaccines.
Figure1:GlobalCO2emissionsfromenergycombustionandindustrialprocessesand
theirannualchange,1900-2022
40
GtCO
30
20
10
1900191019201930194019501960197019801990200020102022
2
1
GtCO
0
-1
-2
IEABY4.0.
CO2emissionsfromenergycombustiongrewbyaround1.3%or423Mtin2022,
whileCO2emissionsfromindustrialprocessesdeclinedby102Mt.Emissions
growthin2022wasbelowglobalGDPgrowth(+3.2%),revertingtoadecades-
longtrendofdecouplingemissionsandeconomicgrowththatwasbrokenin2021.
1
AllsubsequentmentionsofCO2emissionsrefertoCO2emissionsfromenergycombustionandindustrialprocesses,unless
otherwisespecified.Furtherdetailsaboutmethodologyareattheendofthereport.
4.0.
PAGE|5BYCCIEA.