Climate TRACE has taken a significant step toward real-time climate accountability by launching monthly updates on global greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative, which began with its first report on March 28, 2025, provides data on emissions for January 2025. This marks the beginning of a new era in emissions tracking, offering the most up-to-date and comprehensive dataset available to the public.
For years, the challenge of tracking greenhouse gas emissions has been exacerbated by outdated reporting. By the time emissions data became available, the world had already moved on to new climate challenges. Climate TRACE is changing this narrative by offering insights with only a 60-day lag. Covering every major greenhouse gas across key sectors, subsectors, countries, states, over 9,000 urban areas, and more than 660 million individual sources, Climate TRACE has established the world’s most comprehensive, timely, and up-to-date emissions inventory.
Climate TRACE’s preliminary calculation of global greenhouse gas emissions for the month of January 2025 is 5.26 billion tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) – a 0.59% decline compared to January 2024. Global methane emissions in January 2025 stood at 32.24 million tonnes, roughly the same as January 2024. These figures hint at a potential shift in emissions trends, offering a glimmer of hope for those pushing for more aggressive climate action.
This decline in emissions is particularly notable, as it marks the first year-over-year decrease in monthly emissions since the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. December 2024 (–0.02%) and January 2025 represent the first monthly declines in emissions – year over year – post-COVID and since the beginning of Climate TRACE’s monthly breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions data, which dates back to January 2021. While the reductions are small, they could signal the start of a more significant downward movement in global emissions. However, experts caution that it is too early to determine whether this trend will persist. With ongoing policy shifts, industrial transformations, and international climate commitments shaping emissions levels, the coming months will be crucial in understanding whether this decline is a short-term fluctuation or the beginning of sustained progress.
Climate TRACE is committed to providing timely and transparent updates, with new emissions data set for release on the last Thursday of every month. Each report will feature emissions data from two months prior, enabling a comprehensive year-over-year analysis by sector and country. Additionally, refinements to previous months’ estimates will be made based on newly acquired data. Users will be able to explore emissions trends through interactive maps and ranking tools available on the Climate TRACE website. A more detailed breakdown, including methodology documents and change logs, will be accessible through the organization’s GitHub repository.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country: January 2025
As the world’s largest emitter, China recorded a 1.1% decrease in emissions, with total CO2e emissions for January 2025 estimated at 1.54 billion tonnes, reflecting a decline of 17.4 million tonnes.
Other major emitters also showed slight declines:
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The United States saw a drop of 17.39 million tonnes CO2e (–0.28%)
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India’s emissions fell by 90,366 tonnes CO2e (–0.03%)
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Russia experienced a decrease of 579,029 tonnes CO2e (–0.18%)
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Indonesia saw a reduction of 392,293 tonnes CO2e (–0.32%)
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As a bloc, the European Union’s emissions declined by 1.8 million tonnes CO2e (–0.53%)
While these reductions are relatively modest, they reflect an emerging trend of incremental progress in emissions reduction efforts. However, ongoing monitoring will be necessary to determine whether these changes result from short-term economic shifts or deeper structural transformations in energy and industry.
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Greenhouse Gas Emissions by City: January 2025
The urban areas with the highest total greenhouse gas emissions in January 2025 were:
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Shanghai, China
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Tokyo, Japan
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New York City, USA
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Seoul, South Korea
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Beijing, China
Cities with the greatest increase in absolute emissions were:
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Ma’anshan, China
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Anshan, China
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Seoul, South Korea
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Louxing, China
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Xiangtan, China
Cities with the greatest absolute emissions decline included:
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Dortmund, Germany
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Pohang-si, South Korea
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Geumseong, South Korea
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Swansea, United Kingdom
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Zhangjiagang, China
Cities with the greatest percentage increase in emissions were:
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Campo Largo, Brazil
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Sobral, Brazil
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Rybnitsa, Moldova
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Litang, China
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Hpa-An, Myanmar
And those with the greatest percentage decrease were:
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Swansea, United Kingdom
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Chonnae, North Korea
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Kirovo-Chepetsk, Russia
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Wenxi, China
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Pohang-si, South Korea
The introduction of Climate TRACE’s monthly reporting system marks a transformative moment in climate transparency. With emissions data now being released at an unprecedented speed and level of detail, policymakers, researchers, and climate advocates will have the tools necessary to track progress and hold industries accountable in near real-time. This level of access to high-quality, up-to-date emissions data could accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon economy.
While the modest declines in January 2025’s emissions offer a hopeful signal, sustained efforts and policy-driven interventions will be crucial in ensuring this progress continues. The next Climate TRACE report, set to be released in late April 2025, will provide further insights into whether this downward trend persists or if emissions begin to rise once again. As the world grapples with the urgent need for climate action, real-time emissions tracking could prove to be one of the most powerful tools in driving lasting environmental change.
