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The World Ahead | Climate change in 2025

Have global emissions peaked?

It all depends on the latest figures from China, the world’s largest emitter

Workers inspect solar panels in China
Photograph: Getty Images

By Rachel Dobbs, Environment editor, The Economist

HAVE GLOBAL emissions of greenhouse gases passed their peak? It is entirely possible. The world will find out, one way or another, in 2025. Passing the peak would be a significant moment in the fight against climate change. In its most recent assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body that monitors climate science, said 2025 was the year by which greenhouse-gas emissions must peak if the world is to have a good chance of keeping global temperature rises within the 1.5-2°C limits specified by the Paris climate agreement.

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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition of The World Ahead 2025 under the headline “Have global emissions peaked?”

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