Reducing the consumption of CO2-producing energy sources, such as coal, is a difficult task that not all economies are equipped or willing to undertake. Looking at the charts below, we can see trends in coal consumption and CO2 emissions in various countries over several decades.
As the graphs show, countries/regions that heavily industrialized in the 20th century (United States, Russia, Japan, Europe) have reduced their emissions moderately over the past 10 years, but not by nearly enough to offset the rise in emissions from newly industrializing economies in China, India, and Indonesia.
