Economic Growth Breaks Free From Emissions

Between 2015 and 2023, economies representing 92% of global GDP grew while cutting or slowing carbon emissions, showing climate progress is increasingly compatible with prosperity.

“Decoupling is now the norm, not the exception, and the share of the global economy doing this in absolute terms is steadily increasing,” said John Lang, Net Zero Tracker Lead at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit.

Countries accounting for 46% of global GDP reduced emissions while expanding their economies, up from 38% in the decade before 2015, while 89% of global emissions now come from economies that have at least relatively decoupled growth from carbon output. The shift spans advanced and emerging economies alike, with clean energy investment now outpacing fossil fuel investment by two to one and employment in clean energy exceeding that in fossil fuels globally, signalling a structural change in how growth is powered.