World's Most Polluting Cities Revealed At COP29

Cities in Asia and the United States emit the most heat-trapping gas that feeds climate change, with Shanghai the most polluting.

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Cities in Asia and the United States emit the most heat-trapping gas that feeds climate change, with Shanghai the most polluting, according to new data that combines observations and artificial intelligence.

Nations at U.N. climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan are trying to set new targets to cut such emissions and figure out how much rich nations will pay to help the world with that task.

The data comes as climate officials and activists alike are growing increasingly frustrated with what they see as the talks’ — and the world’s — inability to clamp down on planet-warming fossil fuels and the countries and companies that promote them.

Seven states or provinces spew more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases, all of them in China, except Texas, which ranks sixth, according to new data from an organization co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and released Friday at COP29.

Using satellite and ground observations, supplemented by artificial intelligence to fill in gaps, Climate Trace sought to quantify heat-trapping carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, as well as other traditional air pollutants worldwide, including for the first time in more than 9,000 urban areas.