Global map of Per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and industry. Land use change is not included.[1]
Worldwide CO2 Emissions in 2021, by region, per capita, growth. Visualization in a variwide diagram.
Annual CO2 emissions by region. This measures fossil fuel and industry emissions. Land use change is not included.[2]
The US, China and Russia have cumulatively contributed the greatest amounts of CO2 since 1850.[3]

This is a list of sovereign states and territories by per capita carbon dioxide emissions[n 1] due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European Commission. The following table lists the 1970, 1990, 2005, 2017 and 2022 annual per capita CO2 emissions estimates (in kilotons of CO2 per year).[4]

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.[7] Emissions from international shipping or bunker fuels are also not included in national figures,[8] which can make a large difference for small countries with important ports.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report finds that the "Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)" sector on average, accounted for 13-21% of global total anthropogenic GHG emissions in the period 2010-2019.[9] Land use change drivers net AFOLU CO2 emission fluxes, with deforestation being responsible for 45% of total AFOLU emissions. In addition to being a net carbon sink and source of GHG emissions, land plays an important role in climate through albedo effects, evapotranspiration, and aerosol loading through emissions of volatile organic compounds.[9] The IPCC report finds that the LULUCF sector offers significant near-term mitigation potential while providing food, wood and other renewable resources as well as biodiversity conservation. Mitigation measures in forests and other natural ecosystems provide the largest share of the LULUCF mitigation potential between 2020 and 2050. Among various LULUCF activities, reducing deforestation has the largest potential to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions, followed by carbon sequestration in agriculture and ecosystem restoration including afforestation and reforestation.[9] Land use change emissions can be negative.[n 2][10]

According to Science for Policy report in 2023 by the Joint Research Centre (JRC - the European Commission’s science and knowledge service) and International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2022, global GHG emissions primarily consisted of CO2, resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels (71.6%).[4]

In 2022, 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.[11][12][13] However, the main advantage of measuring total national emissions per capita is that it does take population size into account. China has the largest CO2 emissions in the world, but also the largest population. For a fair comparison, emissions should be analyzed in terms of the amount of CO2 per capita.[14] Considering CO2 per capita emissions in 2022, China's levels (8.85) are almost half those of the United States (14.44) and less than a sixth of those of Palau (59.00 - the country with the highest emissions of CO2 per capita).[15][4]

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] The other major anthropogenic greenhouse gases[n 3][19]: 147 [20]) 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.[21]

CO2 emissions

Per capita CO2 emissions by country/territory

The data in the following table is extracted from EDGAR - Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research.[4]

CO2 emissions per capita embedded in global trade

CO2 emissions are typically measured on the basis of ‘production’. This accounting method – which is sometimes referred to as ‘territorial’ emissions – is used when countries report their emissions, and set targets domestically and internationally. In addition to the commonly reported production-based emissions statisticians also calculate ‘consumption-based’ emissions. These emissions are adjusted for trade. To calculate consumption-based emissions, traded goods are tracked across the world, and whenever a good was imported all CO2 emissions that were emitted in the production of that good are also imported, and vice versa to subtract all CO2 emissions that were emitted in the production of goods that were exported.[22]

Consumption-based emissions reflect the consumption and lifestyle choices of a country’s citizens.[22] They are national or regional emissions that have been adjusted for trade, calculated as domestic (or ‘production-based’) emissions minus the emissions generated in the production of goods and services that are exported to other countries or regions, plus emissions from the production of goods and services that are imported.[23]

Consumption-based emissions = Production-based – Exported + Imported emissions[23]

This is measured as the net import-export balance in tons of CO2 per year. Positive values represent netimporters of CO2. Negative values represent net exporters of CO2.[24]

The data in the following table is extracted from Our World in Data database.[25]

Notes

  1. ↑ 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
  2. 1 2
    Global Carbon Project (2022)[5]
    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.[6]
  3. ↑ 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).
    Converting them to carbon dioxide (or CO2) equivalents makes it possible to compare them and to determine their individual and total contributions to global warming.

References

  1. ↑ "Per capita CO₂ emissions" (map). ourworldindata.org. Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Annual CO₂ emissions by world region" (chart). ourworldindata.org. Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  3. ↑ Evans, Simon (5 October 2021). "Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change? / Historical responsibility for climate change is at the heart of debates over climate justice". CarbonBrief.org. Carbon Brief. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Source: Carbon Brief analysis of figures from the Global Carbon Project, CDIAC, Our World in Data, Carbon Monitor, Houghton and Nassikas (2017) and Hansis et al (2015).
  4. 1 2 3 4 Crippa, M.; Guizzardi, D.; Pagani, F.; Banja, M.; Muntean, M.; Schaaf, E.; Becker, W.; Monforti-Ferrario, F.; Quadrelli, R.; Risquez Martin, A.; Taghavi-Moharamli, P.; Köykkä, J.; Grassi, G.; Rossi, S.; Brandao De Melo, J.; Oom, D.; Branco, A.; San-Miguel, J.; Vignati, E. (2023). GHG emissions of all world countries – 2023. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2760/953322. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  5. ↑ Global Carbon Project (2022) Supplemental data of Global Carbon Budget 2022 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Global Carbon Project. https://doi.org/10.18160/gcp-2022
  6. ↑ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)". unfccc.int. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Quesada, Benjamin; Arneth, Almut; Robertson, Eddy; de Noblet-Ducoudré, Nathalie. "Potential strong contribution of future anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change to the terrestrial carbon cycle". Environmental Research Letters. 13 (6). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aac4c3.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. 1 2 3 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. "Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)". unfccc.int. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Per capita greenhouse gas emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "China's Emissions: More Than U.S. Plus Europe, and Still Rising". The New York Times. 25 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "Chinese coal fuels rise in global carbon emissions". The Times. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  13. ↑ PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. "China now no. 1 in CO2 emissions; USA in second position". pbl.nl (in English and Dutch). Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max. "Per capita CO2 emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  16. ↑ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max. "Consumption-based (trade-adjusted) emissions". Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Klugman, Cornelia. "The EU, a world leader in fighting climate change". European Parliament Think Tank. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  18. ↑ IPCC (2021). "Summary for Policymakers" (PDF). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (Report). ISBN 978-92-9169-158-6.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ Lerner & K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth (2006). "Environmental issues: essential primary sources". Thomson Gale. Retrieved 11 September 2006.
  21. ↑ "Are our water vapour emissions warming the climate?". Physics World. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  22. 1 2 Hannah, Ritchie. "How do CO2 emissions compare when we adjust for trade?". ourworldindata.org. Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Are consumption-based CO₂ per capita emissions above or below the global average? 2020". ourworldindata.org. Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "CO₂ emissions embedded in global trade". ourworldindata.org. Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "Production vs. consumption-based CO₂ emissions per capita". ourworldindata.org. Our World in Data. Retrieved 1 November 2023.

See also

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