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 annual per capita CO2 emissions estimates (in kilotons of CO2 per year) for the year 2023, as well as the change from the year 2000.[3]
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.[6] Emissions from international shipping or bunker fuels are also not included in national figures,[7] which can make a large difference for small countries with important ports.
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.[8]
According to Science for Policy report in 2024 by the Joint Research Centre (JRC – the European Commission's science and knowledge service) and International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2023, global GHG emissions primarily consisted of CO2, resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels (73.7%).[3]
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.[13]
Consumption-based emissions reflect the consumption and lifestyle choices of a country's citizens.[13] 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.[14]
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.[15]
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
Global Carbon Project (2022)[4] 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.[5]
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.
