List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: New data as per the report of 2025 has been released for the year of 2024 by the European Commission. https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report 2025?vis=co2tot#emissions table. (December 2024) |
This is a list of sovereign states and territories by carbon dioxide emissions[n 1] due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by the European Commission and Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. The following table lists the annual CO2 emissions estimates (in kilotons of CO2 per year) for the year 2023, as well as the change from the year 2000.[1]
The data only consider carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but not emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry.[n 2] Over the last 150 years, estimated cumulative emissions from land use and land-use change represent approximately one-third of total cumulative anthropogenic CO2 emissions.[3] Emissions from international shipping or bunker fuels are also not included in national figures,[4] which can make a large difference for small countries with important ports.
In 2023, global GHG emissions reached 53.0 GtCO2eq (without Land Use, land Use Change and Forestry). The 2023 data represent the highest level recorded and experienced an increase of 1.9% or 994 MtCO2eq compared to the levels in 2022. The majority of GHG emissions consisted of fossil CO2 accounting for 73.7% of total emissions.[1]
China, the United States, India, the European Union, Russia and Brazil were the world's largest GHG emitters in 2023. Together they account for 49.8% of global population, 63.2% of global gross domestic product, 64.2% of global fossil fuel consumption and 62.7% of global GHG emissions. Among these top emitters, in 2023 China, India, Russia and Brazil increased their emissions compared to 2022, with India having the largest increase in relative terms (+ 6.1%) and China the largest absolute increase by 784 MtCO2eq.[1]
CO2 emissions from the top 10 countries with the highest emissions accounted for almost two thirds of the global total. Since 2006, China has been emitting more CO2 than any other country.[5][6][7] However, the main disadvantage of measuring total national emissions is that it does not take population size into account. China has the largest CO2 emissions in the world, but also the second largest population. Some argue that for a fair comparison, emissions should be analyzed in terms of the amount of CO2 per capita.[8] Their main argument is illustrated by CO2 per capita emissions in 2023, China's levels (9.24) are almost two thirds those of the United States (13.83) and less than a sixth of those of Palau (62.59 – the country with the highest emissions of CO2 per capita).[1][9]
Measures of territorial-based emissions, also known as production-based emissions, do not account for emissions embedded in global trade, where emissions may be imported or exported in the form of traded goods, as it only reports emissions emitted within geographical boundaries. Accordingly, a proportion of the CO2 produced and reported in Asia and Africa is for the production of goods consumed in Europe and North America.[10]
Greenhouse gases (GHG) – primarily carbon dioxide but also others, including methane and chlorofluorocarbons – trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming. Higher temperatures then act on the climate, with varying effects. For example, dry regions might become drier while, at the poles, the ice caps are melting, causing higher sea levels. In 2016, the global average temperature was already 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels.[11]
According to the review of the scientific literature conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas by warming contribution.[12] The other major anthropogenic greenhouse gases[n 3][13]: 147 [14]) are not included in the following list, nor are humans emissions of water vapor (H2O), the most important greenhouse gases, as they are negligible compared to naturally occurring quantities.[15] Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide should allow independent monitoring in the mid-2020s.[16]
Fossil carbon dioxide emissions by country
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Fossil CO2 emissions 2023 vs. fossil CO2 emissions per capita 2023
Cumulative fossil CO2 emissions 1970-2023 vs. fossil CO2 emissions 2023
Maps and charts
See also
- List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita
- List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions
- List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita
- List of countries by carbon intensity of GDP
- List of countries by renewable electricity production
- List of locations and entities by greenhouse gas emissions
- United Nations | Sustainable Development Goal 13 - Climate action
Notes
- ↑ Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a colourless, odourless and non-poisonous gas formed by combustion of carbon and in the respiration of living organisms and is considered a greenhouse gas.
Emissions means the release of greenhouse gases and/or their precursors into the atmosphere over a specified area and period of time.
Carbon dioxide emissions or CO2 emissions are emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement; they include carbon dioxide produced during consumption of solid, liquid, and gas fuels as well as gas flaring - ↑ The rate of build-up of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere can be reduced by taking advantage of the fact that atmospheric CO2 can accumulate as carbon in vegetation and soils in terrestrial ecosystems. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas (GHG) from the atmosphere is referred to as a "sink". Human activities impact terrestrial sinks, through land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), consequently, the exchange of CO2 (carbon cycle) between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is altered.[2]
- ↑ Greenhouse gases (GHG) constitute a group of gases contributing to global warming and climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol, an environmental agreement adopted by many of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997 to curb global warming, nowadays covers seven greenhouse gases:- the non-fluorinated gases:
- carbon dioxide (CO2),
- methane (CH4),
- nitrous oxide (N2O),
- the fluorinated gases:
- hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
- perfluorocarbons (PFCs),
- sulphur hexafluoride (SF6),
- nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
- the non-fluorinated gases:
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Crippa, M.; Guizzardi, D.; Pagani, F.; Banja, M.; Muntean, M.; Schaaf, E.; Monforti-Ferrario, F.; Becker, W.E.; Quadrelli, R.; Risquez Martin, A.; Taghavi-Moharamli, P.; Köykkä, J.; Grassi, G.; Rossi, S.; Melo, J.; Oom, D.; Branco, A.; San-Miguel, J.; Manca, G.; Pisoni, E.; Vignati, E.; Pekar, F. (2024). GHG emissions of all world countries – 2024. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2760/4002897. ISBN 978-92-68-20572-3. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)". unfccc.int. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Quesada, Benjamin; Arneth, Almut; Robertson, Eddy; de Noblet-Ducoudré, Nathalie (2018). "Potential strong contribution of future anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change to the terrestrial carbon cycle". Environmental Research Letters. 13 (6). Bibcode:2018ERL....13f4023Q. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aac4c3.
- ↑ Schrooten, L; De Vlieger, Ina; Int Panis, Luc; Styns, R. Torfs, K; Torfs, R (2008). "Inventory and forecasting of maritime emissions in the Belgian sea territory, an activity based emission model". Atmospheric Environment. 42 (4): 667–676. Bibcode:2008AtmEn..42..667S. doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.09.071. S2CID 93958844. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ "China's Emissions: More Than U.S. Plus Europe, and Still Rising". The New York Times. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ "Chinese coal fuels rise in global carbon emissions". The Times. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. "China now no. 1 in CO2 emissions; USA in second position". pbl.nl (in English and Nederlands). Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Roser, Max; Ritchie, Hannah (11 May 2017). "CO2 and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max (10 June 2020). "Per capita CO2 emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Ritchie, Hannah (2019). "How do CO2 emissions compare when we adjust for trade?". Our World in Data. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Klugman, Cornelia. "The EU, a world leader in fighting climate change". European Parliament Think Tank. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ IPCC (2021). "Summary for Policymakers" (PDF). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (Report). ISBN 978-92-9169-158-6.
- ↑ Grubb, M. (July–September 2003). "The economics of the Kyoto protocol" (PDF). World Economics. 4 (3). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Lerner, K. Lee; Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth (2006). Environmental issues: essential primary sources. Detroit: Thomson Gale. ISBN 1-4144-0625-8.
- ↑ "Are our water vapour emissions warming the climate?". Physics World. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ↑ Pan, Guanna; Xu, Yuan; Ma, Jieqi (1 January 2021). "The potential of CO2 satellite monitoring for climate governance: A review". Journal of Environmental Management. 277 111423. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111423. ISSN 0301-4797. PMID 33031999. S2CID 222237434. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
External links
- CS1 Nederlands-language sources (nl)
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