Increase in renewable energy curbs emissions growth in 2025, IEA says

PARIS: Global emissions rose at a slower rate in 2025 as the expansion of solar power helped developing countries offset emissions growth in advanced economies, led by the United States, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Monday.

Energy-related carbon ‌dioxide emissions ⁠rose ⁠0.4% in 2025, slowing from recent years as a boom in ​solar power supply dominated changes in the supply mix, the IEA said.

Overall global energy demand growth eased to 1.3%, just below the average of the previous decade, while gas demand growth slowed sharply because of relatively ⁠high prices ‌in the first half of the year, the IEA said.

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The data included a reversal ⁠of a long-term trend, with advanced economies recording their ​first annual rise in emissions since 2018, ​the agency said.

This was led by the U.S., which relied more heavily on coal-generated electricity amid high gas prices.

U.S. energy demand growth reached its second-highest level since 2000, excluding post-recession rebound years, driven by strong ‌electricity demand from data centres, robust industrial growth and colder temperatures, the IEA said.

In ​China, which ​the IEA ⁠classifies as a developing economy, emissions fell as the country led additions of solar capacity.

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Emissions in India fell during normal ​economic conditions for the first time on record, having previously decreased only in the pandemic year of 2020 and during the oil shocks of the 1970s, largely because of a strong monsoon season and increased renewable generation.