After a decade of rapid growth in global CO₂ emissions, spurred on by increases in China which offset declines in the US and Europe thanks to natural gas, increases have leveled off: 2012 saw only 0.8%, 2013 was 1.5% and 2014 was 0.5%. Last year, the world's economy continued to grow by 3% overall and even China's unrelenting emissions were held in check.

To some, that means the decoupling of CO₂ emissions from global economic growth. To others, it signals that the developed world has given up on manufacturing. Instead, a country like India can increase its emissions by 7.8% and became the fourth largest emitter globally while claiming the same developing nation status China and Mexico do.

In 2014, despite an overall increase of 1.4% in the GDP for the European Union, the EU decreased its CO₂ emissions by 5.4% with respect to 2013.  They did that by buying natural gas and fossil fuels while subsidizing solar panels. Total EU CO₂ emissions are now 23% below the 1990 level, thanks to a milder winter, efficiencies in transportation that required less oil and, some claim, due to carbon trading schemes.

Significant reductions in national CO₂ emissions were recorded for Slovakia (10.6%), the United Kingdom (9.0%), Denmark (8.8%), France (8.4%), Italy (7.7%), Finland (6.9%), Greece (6.3%), Austria (6.0%), Germany (5.6%), the Netherlands (5.3%), Portugal (3.6%) and Poland (3.4%). Of the 28 EU Member States, only Bulgaria and Cyprus increased their emissions, by 6.9% and 0.5%, respectively.

For the first time, the EU's share of global CO₂ emissions fell below 10%. Responsible for 9.6% of the global emissions, the EU is still the third largest emitter globally after China (30%) and the United States (15%). 

Japan (-2.6%) Russia (-1.5%), and Australia (- 2.1%) also reduced their emissions. The total emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes amounted to 35.7 billion tons CO₂ in 2014, compared to 35.3 billion tons in 2013.