Myth buster: China and India’s carbon emissions

Our verdict at a glance

It’s overly simplistic – and incorrect – to claim countries like China are most to blame for the climate crisis. Historically the US and the EU are the biggest polluters, although it’s true China is catching up. And per person, the US and Canada are still much bigger emitters than China and India. What’s more, both countries getting the blame are taking positive steps to curb their carbon emissions.

1. “The stats don’t lie”

... but they sure skew the picture. Because when it comes to emissions, both historic and per person, it’s the US that’s the biggest culprit.

We need to consider the entire picture and that means looking to the past. Over the course of their history, the US, the UK and EU countries have contributed far more to climate breakdown than China and India, through periods like the Industrial Revolution that made them rich.

The historical concentration of industry and wealth in high-income countries reveals:

• The US has been responsible for around 400 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions since 1751 – a quarter of all emissions ever. This means it’s emitted more CO₂ than any country to date and twice as much as China (13%).
• 28 European countries (including the UK) are also major historical contributors to global emissions, totalling 22%.
• Historically, places like India just aren’t large contributors – in fact, India has produced a mere 3% of historic emissions.

We also tend to measure carbon emissions by nation instead of per person (shown in the graph above). This obscures a simple truth: people in China produce fewer emissions than people in the US and Canada. And a person from India contributes far fewer emissions than the average UK, US or EU citizen.

2. “China and India aren’t taking action”

This simply isn’t the case. While China is a big emitter, its carbon emissions have actually started to fall thanks to being a global leader in clean energy. In fact, it has the most renewable energy of any country in the world. It’s rapidly ramping up its wind and solar power, installing the equivalent of almost 100 solar panels a second in May 2025. It also met its 2030 renewables target 6 years ahead of schedule. And by exporting its clean-energy technology, China is actually helping other countries cut their emissions.

India is no slouch either. It added 3 times as much wind and solar generation as the UK did between 2021 and 2024.

What’s more, both China and India are signed up to the Paris Agreement, a pact between 195 countries to keep global temperature increases below 2°C. The same can’t be said of the US, which has withdrawn twice under Donald Trump’s presidency.

In his second term, Trump has already launched almost 150 actions to increase the use of fossil fuels and weaken environmental protections. His policies have been deemed “anti-environment” and “anti-climate”. So if we’re pointing the finger of blame, there’s a clear culprit – and it’s not China or India.

The reality is that like many other countries around the world, China and India still have plenty more to do, but they are taking positive steps to curb their emissions.

3. “If they’re not cleaning up their act, why should I?”

This is a statement used to avoid personal and national responsibility when it comes to the climate crisis. It derails and suppresses conversations about climate action. It’s also not true to say China and India aren’t cleaning up their act – see above.

We need to remember how we’re all connected in this crisis. Yes, places like India and China have polluting factories that destroy our planet, and they need to move towards cleaner production methods too.

But it’s worth remembering these factories produce goods that are imported into countries like the UK and the US where overconsumption is a big problem. So a lot of the time, their pollution is in fact our pollution. That's why we need global solutions to the climate emergency and the destruction of nature.

A global solution to climate change isn't going to happen if countries like the UK don’t follow the science, face up to their responsibility and take the lead with urgent and ambitious climate action.

4. “Developing countries are to blame for the climate crisis”

Again, this statement is demonstrably false. The wealthiest countries, totalling 16% of the world’s population, are currently responsible for almost 40% of carbon emissions. Meanwhile the poorest countries, totalling 60% of the global population, are responsible for less than 15% of emissions.

And let’s not forget who suffers the most. A report by UNICEF revealed that 1 billion children are at extremely high risk of the impacts of the climate crisis, threatening their health, water access, education and lives. Yet many of these children are from low-income countries that have contributed minimally to the climate crisis. The poorest are hit first and hardest. Climate breakdown affects food supply, causes starvation, drives water shortages, destroys homes and creates climate refugees, to name just a few impacts.

Instead of unfair blame, low-income countries need financial support to deal with the impacts of climate breakdown, and develop renewables and other green industries so their economies can grow. Rich countries like the UK have both the responsibility and the ability to lead on climate action. It’s only right we pay our fair share internationally.