News

Graphic Truth: Which countries pollute the most?

In recent years, international forums for accelerating action on climate change have turned into finger pointing exercises about which countries should do the heavy-lifting when it comes to tackling global warming. The US and China are usually deemed the worst culprits because they produce the most carbon dioxide in absolute terms, accounting for a combined 42 percent of global pollution. But population and economy size are two major determinants of a country's carbon footprint. When CO2 emissions are considered on a per-capita basis, for instance, China doesn't even make the top ten. Here's a comparative look at the countries that pollute the most.

More For You

- YouTube

In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer breaks down the growing tensions between the US and Iran, calling it "the next area of potential large-scale conflict where President Trump is interested in changing the facts on the ground."

A flood victim stands at her flooded home after weeks of heavy rainfall in Boane District, Maputo, Mozambique, January 19, 2026.
REUTERS/Amilton Neves/File Photo

392,000: The estimated number of people displaced across Mozambique by recent rain-induced floods. Severe flooding in the southern African nation, as well as in South Africa and Zimbabwe, has killed over 100 people.