Photo Guy Ackermans As the old year came to a close (Happy New Year, everyone!), I searched for the global CO₂ emissions per person. Because CO₂ emissions are often expressed in absolute numbers — the only relevant figure where climate change is concerned — but a growing world population only makes an absolute decline even more of a challenge. You have to feed more people every year and keep them warm while using fewer resources than the year before. But it wasn’t easy to find emissions per person. So I did some calculations and sent my results to an energy expert to check. After all, you want to be sure you aren’t coming up with some half-baked numbers.
I found that while we face a huge climate challenge (because total global emissions unfortunately increased again in 2024), per capita emissions have fallen since 2010! That is not the only bright spot: other indicators such as figures for poverty and child mortality have also been heading in the right direction for years. So we are able to improve health and prosperity while trying to live more sustainably and having less of an impact on the planet.
While we face a huge climate challenge, per capita emissions have fallen since 2010! And that is not the only bright spot
In the EU, CO2 emissions peaked back in 1990! Of course I can hear the criticism at once: ‘The EU has merely shifted its emissions abroad!’ But if 2025 turns out to be the year in which absolute global emissions fall for the first time (fingers crossed), the story is more nuanced. We have made serious work of greening production in Europe; it wasn’t just about ‘outsourcing’ as a strategy. That is worth publicizing, especially if the Netherlands and Europe want to serve as an example to the rest of the world.
Here at WUR, we can be proud of that. It is no coincidence that we have been ranked the most sustainable university again. We do our best to show that science, education and innovation can help find real solutions rather than dumping the problem on other countries.
So let’s start 2025 with renewed enthusiasm. We still have a long way to go, but there are hopeful signs. I hope that at the end of this year, in December, we will be able to look back on the first genuine fall in absolute global CO₂ emissions. That would be a New Year’s gift worth having.
Guido Camps (40) is a vet and researcher at Human Nutrition and OnePlanet. He enjoys baking, beekeeping and unusual animals.
