As per experts at Nature, 2020 emission levels dropped by 5.8% compared to 2019 and climate experts hoped that this would continue in the following years, as well, after multiple green investment initiatives. However, 2021 was the first year after the pandemic which showed that CO2 levels will rise once more, but researchers believe that they might plateau soon.

In 2021, CO2 emissions rose by 5.4%, while in 2022 the growth was much smaller, at 1.9% and for 2023, carbon levels only increased by 0.1% compared to the previous year.

Breaking down the global emissions by sectors, scientists discovered that the power sector accounted for 38.4% of the planet's CO2 output in 2023, while the industries 29% and ground transportation for 18.6%.

International aviation and shipping combined represented 3.5% of the world's total amount of carbon footprint.

However, compared to 2022, emission levels in certain industries fell, which is why the overall growth was just 0.1%. Thus, power generation went from a 0.9% climb in 2022 to a 0.2% decline in 2023 and industrial-related emissions went from +1.6% to -0.8%.

Still, transportation was one of the sectors that caused overall emissions to still increase, with aviation experiencing a massive growth, going from negative 1% in 2022 to +14% in 2023.

On a country basis, the world's first five polluters remain pretty much unchanged, being led by China and following the US, India, the EU and Russia, as collectively, they hold 64% of the world's share of carbon emissions or 23 gigatons.

Due to continued increases in carbon emission outputs, global economies are quickly depleting the remaining carbon budget that we reportedly have to still hit our long-term climate goals and we are bound to fully exhaust it in the next 6.1 years if CO2 levels don't drop sharply.