China's CO2 emissions rose from about 4 billion tonnes in 2000 to more than 12 billion tonnes, roughly tripling.

Omissions

• The 2024 China figure of 12.3 billion tonnes of CO2 (Our World in Data, based on the Global Carbon Project) confirms 'more than 12 billion', but no primary official source (e.g. a national statistics office or IEA database page) was located within the search limit; the confirmation relies on a secondary compilation of Global Carbon Project data.
• China's fossil CO2 emissions in 2000 were approximately 3.4 billion tonnes, somewhat below the 'about 4 billion' stated; the ~4 billion figure is a rounding that can also reflect land-use/alternative accounting.
• The EU 'about 3 billion' figure is supported by Eurostat data reporting roughly 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent for the EU in 2023; this is greenhouse gases in CO2 equivalent rather than CO2-only, whose value would be slightly lower.
• The 2000 EU baseline ('more or less the same as China') could not be independently verified with a specific cited source in the searches performed; historical EU-27 GHG emissions around 2000 were on the order of 4 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent, consistent with the claim.
• The searches were limited and no article published on or before the session date (2026-09-15) was retrieved; the supporting sources are data compilations whose reference periods (2023–2024) are nonetheless on or before the session date.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat Statistics Explained — Greenhouse gas emission footprintsIn 2023, global greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to be 51.8 tonnes of CO2 equivalents. Some 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents were produced in the EU.
• SecondaryOur World in Data — China: CO2 and Greenhouse Gas EmissionsChina emitted 12.3 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 2024. These are territorial emissions, produced within the country's borders.