A recently published report from the Energy Institute, in partnership with Ember, Kearney Institute and KPMG, found the United States accounting for about a third of the rise in global carbon dioxide emissions in 2025, as higher gas prices pushed power producers back to coal.
Global energy-related carbon emissions from the production and use of energy rose 1.1% to 35,806 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2025. About 13.3% of that increase came from the United States,” the report said.
Including emissions from the energy sector and from gas flaring and methane, global emissions rose by 1.1% to 41 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. Uncle Sam accounted for 36% of that increase, with total emissions growth of 3.2% on a year-on-year basis, whereas for China, the spike remained at 0.3%.
The United States’ coal consumption, in 2025, jumped 10%, reversing a shift towards cleaner fuels and helping to lift overall emissions.
“China remained the largest emitter, accounting for 31.3% of global energy-sector emissions, but its increase from 2024 was modest at 0.7%. Europe’s emissions rose by 0.5%. North America recorded the largest absolute increase, with emissions rising by nearly 3% from 2024 to 152.3 million tonnes, bucking a 10-year trend of falling emissions,” the Energy Institute study said.
On a per capita basis, emissions from the American mainland were nearly double those of China at 15.36 tonnes of CO₂ per person, based on Reuters calculations taking the latest population data for 2025 from the US Census Bureau and National Bureau of Statistics of China.
Global energy demand, on the other hand, has continued to rise. As per the study, total energy supply increased 1.7% in 2025, with renewables making the biggest contribution. Renewable power generation climbed 9.1%, led by a 30% surge in solar.
“Electricity demand rose faster than supply, increasing 3% year-on-year, driven by electric vehicles, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI). Global oil consumption rose 1.3% in 2025 to 103 million barrels per day, compared with a 1.1% increase in 2024, while production grew 3.5%,” the Energy Institute noted.
In China, gasoline and diesel use declined in 2025, extending a trend seen in 2024.
“Gas demand growth was concentrated in Europe, the Middle East and North America, with Europe and India relying on imports for nearly half of their supply,” the report concluded.