G20 per capita emissions from coal up 7% from 2015, study shows

Singapore — Group of 20 (G20) nations have increased per capita emissions nearly 7% from coal-fired power since 2015, with China and India adding new plants, and Australia’s carbon dioxide count per head nearly three times higher than the world average, research shows.

As the bloc gathers for a summit in India this week, as many as seven G20 members — China, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, SA and the US — have not yet drawn up plans to phase down coal use, according to environment group Ember, which focuses on the global transition to clean electricity.

G20 countries account for 80% of world power sector emissions, with per capita carbon dioxide from coal power at 1.6 tonnes last year, up from 1.5 tonnes in 2015 and higher than a global average of 1.1 tonnes, Ember said.

China, the world’s biggest coal consumer and its biggest source of carbon dioxide, saw per capita emissions reach 3.1 tonnes in 2022, up 30% from 2015 despite the addition of 670GW of renewable capacity over the period.

Beijing has pledged to start reducing coal consumption, but not until its 2026-2030 planning period. China has continued to develop new coal-fired power plants, with 243GW of coal-fired power approved or under construction, enough to power the whole of Germany, according to a study.

India also saw per capita emissions from its coal sector rise 29% over the period to 0.8 tonnes.

“China and India are often blamed as the world’s big coal power polluters. But when you take population into account, South Korea and Australia were the worst polluters still in 2022,” said Dave Jones, one of the authors of Ember’s report.

Australia has cut per capita emissions from coal by more than a quarter since 2015, but still remains at more than 4 tonnes per head. South Korean emissions have fallen nearly 10% to 3.3 tonnes per head, second highest in the G20.

“As mature economies, they should be scaling up renewable electricity ambitiously and confidently enough to enable coal to be phased out by 2030,” Jones said.

At the last G20 summit in July, countries failed to reach an agreement on enhancing their climate change commitments, with some blaming China for blocking a deal.

Reuters