How China, the world’s biggest polluter, has managed to reduce its carbon emissions

For several months now, climate experts have speculated that China’s carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions – the world’s largest polluter – peaked and began to reverse their growth.

Now a report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent organization based in Finland confirmed the trend. The analysis, published on climate analysis website Carbon Brief, revealed that China’s total carbon dioxide emissions in the first quarter of 2025 declined by 1.6% from the same period a year earlier. In August 2024, a study by the Asian Society Policy Institute (ASPI) had already shown that China’s CO₂ emissions during the April-June quarter of that year were reduced by 1%, compared to the same period in 2023. According to both reports, thanks to China’s growing use of renewable energy sources, the country is managing to put an end to the decades-long increase in its carbon emissions, if it has not already done so.

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