Heat-trapping carbon pollution drops, but scientists cite Iran war rather than energy progress
Global carbon emissions saw a slight 0.4% decrease in 2026, but scientists attribute this to oil supply shocks caused by the war in Iran rather than climate policy progress. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz led to higher energy prices, which curtailed fossil fuel consumption.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that current emissions reductions are driven by geopolitical instability rather than structural shifts toward sustainable energy, complicating climate change mitigation efforts.
Antalya (Turkiye) Global carbon pollution dropped this year ever so slightly, but it's more because of oil shocks reverberating from the Iran war than anything the world has done to fight climate change, scientists said in a new study. Global energy CO2 emissions reached record high last year, report says storyline 1 In 2026, the world emitted 42.2 billion tonne of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. It's a 0.4% decrease from last year, according to the scientists of the Global Carbon Project, which publishes its estimates in the journal Earth System Science Data Discussions. What are carbon capture and utilisation technologies?
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