LONDON — The United States has emerged as the primary catalyst behind a worrying uptick in international greenhouse gases. According to the benchmark 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy report, the US alone accounted for more than a third of the entire global increase in energy-related carbon emissions last year.
The comprehensive study—published by the Energy Institute in partnership with Ember, the Kearney Institute, and KPMG—reveals a stark trend reversal. Spurred by highly volatile international natural gas prices, American utility operators quietly pivoted back to traditional fossil fuels, forcing a sharp 10% surge in domestic coal consumption that effectively choked out a decade of steady climate progress.
The Tipping Point: 2025 Global Emission Metrics
Overall carbon emissions from the global energy sector rose by 1.1% to reach a record high of 35,806 million metric tons of carbon dioxide ($35.8\text{ gigatonnes}$).
While North America had historically seen its energy-related emissions contract by an average of 0.7% annually over the last decade, the 2025 coal rush completely bucked this trajectory, dealing a heavy absolute blow to international decarbonization targets.