World GHG emissions (1750-2022)
1GT Carbon is equivalent to 3.6GT Carbon Dioxide

World Carbon Dioxide Emissions 1971-2023 (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
Total global CO₂ emissions from energy production (ie. fossil fuels), by country
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

World Greenhouse Gas emissions (1971-2023)
Could emissions peak in 2025?

Bushy Park (Photo: Electric Shock)

CO₂ levels keep rising after emissions peak
Peak emissions does not mean that atmospheric CO₂ will fall. Far from it. They will continue rising until we stop burning carbon altogether.

World CO₂ Emissions

When will carbon emissions stop increasing each year?

All-time carbon emissions have doubled in the 30 years since Kyoto. As the world called for an end to fossil fuels and the damage they are causing, the response of producers has been to max out and take the profit before anyone could stop them. Each year, more carbon dioxide goes into the air than the year before. It will all remain there for centuries, heating the air and the oceans to the point that mass extinctions are inevitable.

Don't just blame 'Big Oil' though - we all share responsibility, by burning fuels to heat homes, drive cars, travel abroad, and tolerating politicians that allow it all to happen.

A glimmer of hope...

Europe's emissions are already falling year-on-year, and other major polluters look set to follow suit. Even China's emissions might peak in 2025. It offers hope, but this is not enough. Far from it. Every new molecule of CO2 makes the problem worse. Only ending carbon emissions altogether will bring the spiral of global warming finally to a peak.

World emissions reality check

* Hover over charts for more detail

* Click on countries, hover over lines

World's 6 most polluting nations cause 57% of world's GHG emissions (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
China and the USA alone are responsible for 37%. BUT WAIT! Emissions villain China is now a CLEAN-ENERGY SUPERPOWER, adding new capacity so fast that emissions are expected to start falling from 2025. It also has so many EVs - about 25% of all vehicles - that low petrol demand pushed world oil prices to slump in 2024. Could China emerge as the world's energy transition role model?
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

6 most polluting nations

cause 57% of the world's GHG emissions, including 63% of the world's CO₂

* Click on countries, hover over lines

Next 14 most polluting nations (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
The trend in emissions from the next 14 most polluting nations is strongly upwards, with the exception of Germany, and more recently, Japan. The main drivers of this rise are methane (from agriculture and fuel exploitation), and fossil fuels used by the power industry, industrial processes and transport.
Data source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Next 14 polluters

show little sign of reversing a strong upward trends in emissions (with the exception of Germany and more recently, Japan)

Not just CO₂ ...

120x more potent than CO₂, methane causes 1/3 of avoidable global warming today.

Whilst methane's GWP fades over time, its short-term effects risk turbo-charging climate change past dangerous tipping points. Main sources of man-made methane emissions are:

Agriculture - 45% - from livestock waste, rice cultivation, crop stubble burning
Fossil Fuel industries - 34% - from venting/flaring/leakage of natural gas, and coal mines
Waste - 17% - from decomposing wet organic matter, especially in landfill sites

Slashing these emissions should be technically and economically easier than CO₂, with greater short-term impact.
* We have converted all GWP100 statistics on this page to the GWP20 standard to better reflect today's reality.

Photo: Wikimedia Genghiskhanviet

The Hidden Methane Problem
Methane causes 1/3 of global warming at present, yet official figures downplay this to 10% because they look at the long term. This hides the reality of methane’s impact today.

Big cuts in methane should be far easier to implement than CO₂ emissions

Agricultural Methane

Photo: Pexels/ Quang Nguyen Vinh

comes mostly from Livestock & Rice
...but solutions are gaining ground worldwide. Biodigesters capture livestock waste emissions and produce profitable fuel gas. Rice farmers are switching to modern techniques of 'alternate wetting/drying' to avoid the high methane emissions of flooded rice fields, and direct seeding to replace crop residue burning.

Rest of the World

Rest of the World: Asia (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
Whilst emissions are rising in all Asian nations (mostly from a low base), there are signs that the rises might be slowing down now, instead of accelerating. Some of the bigger polluters (Taiwan, Thailand) have barely increased in 20 years, whereas emissions from some of the most populous countries (Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Phillippines) continue to accelerate.
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Rest of the World: Asia

Asia produces 2/3 of the world's carbon emissions. Emissions continue to rise in most asian economies, especially the poorest nations.

Rest of the World: Africa (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
Methane is Africa’s main GHG problem, accounting for nearly 3/4 of all its emissions. 50% of it comes from agricultural livestock waste (especially Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad & Nigeria), another 30% from poorly regulated fossil fuel extraction (especially from Nigeria, Algeria & South Africa), with the other 20% from waste & sewage. All are rising fast.

Africa produces less than 4% of the world's CO₂, and 70% of that comes from just 4 states: South Africa (29%) Egypt (19%), Algeria (12%) and Nigeria (9%). This illustrates how Africa's other 46 nations are neither cause nor threat of global warming.
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Rest of the World: Africa

Africa produces less than 4% of world's carbon emissions

Rest of the World: Europe (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
Emissions are now falling right across Europe, but especially in the UK and EU states.
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Rest of the World: Europe

Europe produces less than 10% of worlds CO₂, and is the only continent where emissions are falling

Rest of the World: Americas (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
Emissions are rising across Central and South America, but many of these nations also have a crucial role in preserving the Amazon rainforest and preventing deforestation of Central America's sub-tropical rainforests
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Rest of the World: Americas

OECD ... the world's more affluent nations (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) represents the world's 38 most prosperous capitalist states, so no China, Russia, India at date of writing. This collection reveals that the upwards trend in emissions has started to be reversed in most affluent nations, especially in Europe.
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

OECD

Europe's wealthier nations have cut emissions the most since 1990, but other OECD members have increased.

Ex-Soviet Countries (excl Russia)
Emissions fall dramatically in most former Soviet-aligned countries after the Soviet Union ended in 1990. This is true for Russia too, but emissions are too big to fit on this graph.
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Ex-Soviet Countries

Most former 'Eastern-block' countries' emissions fell dramatically after Soviet influence ended in 1990.

OPEC countries
Emissions from 'Petrostates'. This list excludes major oil producers USA, Russia, Canada, Norway and Australia that are not OPEC members, but all have lagged behind their peers when it comes to cutting carbon emissions
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

OPEC (Oil Producing and Exporting Countries)

OPEC represents states whose economies are built around oil production and export.

Small Island Developing States
The Maldives is one of the world's nations most threatened by rising sea levels, yet its GHG emissions have increased 23-fold since 1990. Similarly, the Pacific paradise of Palau has the world's highest per-capita fossil fuel emissions, treble that of Saudi Arabia, and nearly five times that of the USA. However, these are amongst a handful of exceptions, as most Small Island Developing States ('SIDS') remain amongst the most-threatened, lowest-polluting and least affluent of the world's nations.

There's an argument that some pollution figures could be distorted by the different challenges remote islands face, such as potentially higher reliance on air transport and imports.
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

Small Island Developing States

One of the world's nations most threatened by rising sea levels, The Maldives, increased its GHG emissions 23-fold since 1990.

Country Grouping	Emissions per Capita (t_{CO2 eq}pp/yr)
‘Petrostates’ & major oil producers (inc Canada, USA, Russia, Australia)	17-40
Wealthier Asian nations	8-13
Europe	5-10
Latin America	2-6
Poorer Asia	1-6
SIDS	1-5
Africa	0.6-4

Main sources of emissions

Where do most of the world's man-made GHGs come from?

	CO₂	Methane	N₂O	F-gases	Total
Agriculture	0.2%	18%	2%		20.8%
Buildings	5%	0.3%	0.09%		5%
Fuel Exploitation	4%	14%	0.01%		17.5%
Industrial combustion	9%	0.03%	0.04%		9.1%
[Industrial] Processes	4%	0.02%	0.4%	2%	7%
Power Industry	22%	0.02%	0.2%		21.8%
Transport	12%	0.04%	0.2%		11.8%
Waste	0.02%	7%	0.2%		7.1%
Total	55.3%	39.1%	3.5%	2.1%	100%

Changes in GHG emissions rates since 1970

Processes-F-gases	⇧ 880% mostly HFCs (aerosols, coolants in aircon & refrigeration etc). Also SF6 (for power networks)
Power Industry-CO2	⇧ 305% CO2 from coal & gas burned to generate electricity
Processes-CO2	⇧ 243% CO2 from chemical processes
Transport-CO2	⇧ 194% CO2 from petrol & dielel
Fuel Exploitation-CO2	⇧ 107% CO2 from fuel for oil, gas & mining machinery
Other CO2/CH4/N2O sources	⇧ 100% Man-made CO2, methane & N2O from other 13 sector-gas categories
Agriculture-N2O	⇧ 98% N2O mostly from fertiliser over-use
Waste-CH4	⇧ 96% Methane, mostly from landfills
Fuel Exploitation-CH4	⇧ 68% Methane from oil, gas & coal extraction, processing & distribution
Industrial Combustion-CO2	⇧ 68% CO2 from burning fuels for industrial heat
Agriculture-CH4	⇧ 52% Methane from animal waste, rice cultivation & crop burning
Buildings-CO2	⇧ 10% CO2 from fuels used to power heating & cooling
Processes-N2O	⇩ 10%

World GHG Emissions Per Gas/Sector (Units=Mt CO_{2 eq})
Source: European Commission & IEA (International Energy Agency)
NB: Original figures show methane GWP100, but we use GWP20 to reflect the immediate warming from this potent gas

* Hover over chart for more detail

⇧ 880%	Processes-F-gases
⇧ 305%	Power Industry-CO2
⇧ 243%	Processes-CO2
⇧ 194%	Transport-CO2
⇧ 107%	Fuel Exploitation-CO2
⇧ 100%	Other CO2/CH4/N2O sources
⇧ 98%	Agriculture-N2O
⇧ 96%	Waste-Methane
⇧ 68%	Fuel Exploitation-Methane
⇧ 68%	Industrial Combustion-CO2
⇧ 52%	Agriculture-Methane
⇧ 10%	Buildings-CO2
⇩ 10%	Processes-N2O

What are F-GASES?

These are groups of gases made using flourine. 80% of F-gases are HFCs (hydro-flouro-carbons) that were introduced to replace ozone-depleting CFCs. They come in many shapes and sizes, to serve as refrigerants, aerosol propellants, fire retardant, insulation, etc. Other F-gases include SF6 (Sulphur Hexaflouride) used to prevent fires in power grids, and PFCs, gas versions of the 'Teflon' family, often referred to as 'forever chemicals', that stay in the atmosphere for millenia. A new generation of F-gases, called HFOs (HydroflouroOlefins), are designed to break down in days instead of millenia.

METHANE from agriculture?

The largest portion comes from the bowels of livestock herds and their manure, but rice cultivation and burning of crop residues also produce significant shares.

Livestock methane - reductions of 10-20% are possible through feed additives, improved forage quality, and selective breeding, but the economic motivation is not very strong. Reducing meat consumption cuts emissions.
Livestock manure methane - Simple digesters can slash emissions by using manure slurry, organic waste - and human waste - to produce useful biogas
Rice cultivation methane - Methane-producing bacteria thrive in Asia's flooded rice fields, but new methods involve alternate wetting and drying, allowing oxygen into the soil to inhibit methanogens.
Crop residue burning methane - crop stubble burns unevenly, producing methane and the deadly smogs that plague Northern India and Pakistan. Direct seed drilling (such as the 'happy seeder' machine) avoid the need to burn stubble, and improve crop yields for growing numbers of farmers.

METHANE from fuel exploitation

Methane is an explosion hazard in coal mines and oil wells, traditionally managed by venting directly to the atmosphere or flaring (burning it off). Regulation and profits provide strong incentives for oil wells to capture and sell this valuable by-product. Coal methane is usually vented as it is much harder to capture at commercial levels of purity (>95%). Fracking increases methane leakages from oil wells. Abandonned oil wells can also leak methane (the USA alone has over 2 million abandonned wells) if not properly plugged, and coal mines continue to emit methane long after closure.

N2O from agriculture

Nitrous oxide is a lung irritant on busy city streets and homes, and an anaesthetic (laughing gas) used in hospitals. But in the atmosphere, its warming potential is nearly 300 times that of CO2. The main source is fertilisers broken down by bacteria instead of taken up by plants, producing N20. Fertiliser producers worldwide encourage farmers to smother crops liberally with fertiliser, resulting in increased material costs, soil degradation, polluted waterways, and GHG emissions: N20 from fertiliser breakdown and an equivalent amount of CO2 from the fertiliser manufacturing process. Studies have shown that fertiliser use is typically double the amount needed to maximise crop yields.