Global fossil CO2 emissions fall 0.4% in 2026
The gist
The Global Carbon Project projects global fossil CO2 emissions will fall 0.4% in 2026 to 38.2 billion tonnes.
Researchers attribute much of the dip to the Iran conflict, not structural change.
How it unfolded
- Nov 13, 2025Prior-year Global Carbon Project estimates projected fossil-source emissions to increase by around 1% in 2025, with coal, oil and gas all expected to rise.
- Nov 9, 2026Phys.org publishes a report on the 2026 Global Carbon Budget, the 21st annual edition, published in Earth System Science Data.
- Nov 10, 2026The 2026 Global Carbon Budget is published, projecting global fossil CO2 emissions to fall 0.4% in 2026 to 38.2 billion tonnes.
Key terms
- land sink
- A natural process in which land ecosystems remove more carbon from the atmosphere than they release.
- El Niño
- The cooling phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, marked by below-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific.
Source: Wikipedia