But this positive development was overshadowed by emissions growing in the majority of nations.
The study, published on Thursday (March 4) in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that in the period from 2016 to 2019 - prior to the Covid-19 pandemic - emissions from burning fossil fuels fell in 64 countries but rose in 150. The increase in emissions was more than double the cuts achieved by the 64.
The findings are concerning because they reinforce evidence that the world is far from making the deep cuts in greenhouse gases, especially CO2, needed to shift the planet to a safer temperature path.
"We designed the study to assess progress since adopting the Paris Agreement, that is, the emphasis on the previous five years to Covid-19. It is also a key way to understand the trends that mostly will return when we get over the worst of the pandemic," said co-author Dr Pep Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon Project, which analyses global greenhouse gas emission trends.