“China now produces more CO2 than all the other developed nations in the world, and a global emissions increase of 54 percent, much of it from China, has wiped out Europe's carbon cuts.”

Address to the United Nations General Assembly (variant of broader 'China driving climate' framing)

Europe's cuts are real and have not been undone. EU net greenhouse gas emissions are 37% below 1990 levels, and the EU shows the largest percentage decrease among top emitters since 1990. Global emissions did rise, but by 65% from 1990 to 2024 by the EU's EDGAR count, not 54%, and a rise elsewhere does not erase reductions Europe has made.

Part of his statement holds: on an annual basis, China's greenhouse gas emissions surpassed those of all developed countries combined in 2019, per Rhodium Group. But warming is driven by cumulative emissions, and the United States has released more CO2 since 1850 than any other country, about 20% of the global total, with China second at about 11%.

European Commission Joint Research Centre, September 2025: global emissions "are 65% higher in 2024 than in 1990."