India and the US have been named the top performers among G20 nations for their efforts to fight climate change, according to an analysis by The Guardian. In the last nine years, G20 countries have created many rules and plans to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, following the 2016 Paris Agreement.

These efforts are expected to cut global CO2 emissions by 6.9 gigatons by 2030, as reported by Climate Action Tracker. Despite these achievements, experts warn that the world is still far from limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Major improvement since 2015 levels

One major success is that CO2 emissions are now expected to go back to the same levels as in 2015 by the end of this decade. Earlier, experts thought emissions would increase by 20% between 2015 and 2030.

Leonardo Nascimento, an analyst at Climate Action Tracker, called this a significant milestone. “This is nothing to brush off. This is a major improvement in the group of countries covering more than 80% of global emissions,” he said. He added, “There is progress at the international level. I completely disagree that Cop is a useless process.”

Nascimento also praised countries like China, which have invested a lot in renewable energy. China is expected to reach some of its climate goals for 2030 six years earlier and may reach its highest CO2 emissions by next year.

“It is not just developed countries that are doing a lot; it is also developing nations with big populations and big inequality,” Nascimento said. He expressed hope that global emissions may peak by the end of next year.