Asia's Transport Emissions: Growth and Decoupling Trends Since the Paris Agreement

ATO - 2024-10-15

Following the Paris Agreement, Asian nations have experienced varying levels of success in decoupling their economic growth (GDP) from transport emissions. This mixed progress is attributed mainly to slow and uneven improvements in energy efficiency. Most of the region's high-income economies have achieved absolute decoupling, meaning their transport emissions have decreased even as their economies have grown. However, many upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income economies have only attained relative decoupling. In these cases, transport emissions have grown slower than their GDP but have not yet decreased in absolute terms.

Annual average growth rate of transport CO2 (Fossil) emissions and GDP (PPP)

Source: (European Commission. Joint Research Centre & IEA., 2024)


Find out more about the associated report here:
Transport Decarbonisation in Asia: A Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty? A Primer for COP-29
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