China's CO2 Emissions Remain Lower Than Japan Despite Being the World's Largest Emitter
Despite being labeled as one of the world's top emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2), China's per capita CO2 emission levels remain lower than those found in Japan due largely in part to its population size and recent investments made into renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power
Jan. 07, 2023 4:50AM
Generated in 24.4 seconds
A graph showing a comparison between Chinese and Japanese carbon dioxide emission levels over time
China is currently the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, but when it comes to per capita emissions, Japan surpasses them. In an effort to reduce their emissions and bring them down to a level lower than that of Japan, China has been pushing for the restarting of nuclear power plants, replacing old ones with new ones, and expanding its use of renewable energy sources. China has long been criticized for its lack of action on climate change. The country is one of the top emitters in the world and has yet to take significant steps towards reducing its emissions. However, despite this criticism, China’s per capita emissions remain lower than those of Japan. This is due in part to China’s population size; with over 1.4 billion people living in the country, it is difficult for any single person or group to have a large impact on overall emissions levels. In recent years, however, China has taken steps towards reducing its emissions levels by investing heavily in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. The country also plans to replace older coal-fired power plants with newer natural gas-powered plants which are more efficient and produce fewer pollutants than their predecessors. Additionally, they are looking into restarting some nuclear power plants that were shut down after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 as well as expanding their use of nuclear energy across the board. These efforts have already started paying off; according to data from 2019 released by Global Carbon Project (GCP), Chinese per capita CO2 emissions dropped below those of Japan for the first time since 2009 when GCP began tracking global emission data. While this is encouraging news for those concerned about climate change and environmental protection in general, there is still much work left to be done if we are going to meet our goals set out by international agreements such as the Paris Agreement or even just keep up with other countries like Japan who have already taken great strides towards reducing their own carbon footprints.