w:List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions

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{{About|carbon dioxide only|all greenhouse gases combined|List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

File:Annual CO2 emissions per country, 2022.png and industry. Land use change is not included.{{cite web |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-per-capita |title=Per capita {{CO2}} emissions |publisher=Our World in Data |website=ourworldindata.org |format=map|access-date=2024-09-18}}]]

File:Annual-co2-emissions-by-region-2022.png and industry emissions. Land use change is not included.{{cite web |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region |title=Annual {{CO2}} emissions by world region |publisher=Our World in Data |website=ourworldindata.org |format=chart|access-date=2024-09-18}}]]

File:Cumulative CO2 emissions by region, 2022.png |website=ourworldindata.org |format=chart|access-date=2024-09-18}}]]

This is a list of sovereign states and territories by carbon dioxide emissions{{refn|group=n|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}} due to certain forms of human activity, based on the [https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/collection/edgar EDGAR database] created by 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.{{cite web |author=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. |url=https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2024?vis=co2tot#data_download |title=GHG emissions of all world countries – 2024 |publisher=Publications Office of the European Union |location=Luxembourg |year=2024 |doi=10.2760/4002897 |access-date=2024-09-18}}

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.{{refn|group=n|File:Global_carbon_cycle.png 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.{{cite web |author=United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |url=https://unfccc.int/topics/land-use/workstreams/land-use--land-use-change-and-forestry-lulucf |title= Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) |website=unfccc.int |access-date=2024-09-18}}}} 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.{{cite journal |first1=Benjamin |last1=Quesada |first2=Almut |last2=Arneth |first3=Eddy |last3=Robertson |first4=Nathalie |last4=de Noblet-Ducoudré |title=Potential strong contribution of future anthropogenic land-use and land-cover change to the terrestrial carbon cycle |journal=Environmental Research Letters |date=2018 |volume=13 |number=6 |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aac4c3 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/aac4c3 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018ERL....13f4023Q |access-date=2024-09-18}} Emissions from international shipping or bunker fuels are also not included in national figures,{{cite journal | last1 = Schrooten | first1 = L | title = Inventory and forecasting of maritime emissions in the Belgian sea territory, an activity based emission model | journal = Atmospheric Environment | volume = 42 | pages = 667–676 | year = 2008 | doi = 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.09.071 | bibcode = 2008AtmEn..42..667S | last2 = De Vlieger | first2 = Ina | last3 = Int Panis | first3 = Luc | last4 = Styns, R. Torfs | first4 = K | last5 = Torfs | first5 = R| issue = 4 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231007008837?via%3Dihub | s2cid = 93958844 |access-date=2024-09-18}} which can make a large difference for small countries with important ports.

In 2023, global GHG emissions reached 53.0 Gt_{{CO2}}eq (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 Mt_{{CO2}}eq compared to the levels in 2022. The majority of GHG emissions consisted of fossil {{CO2}} accounting for 73.7% of total emissions.

China, the United States, India, the EU27, 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 Mt_{{CO2}}eq.

{{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.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/business/china-davos-climate-change.html |title=China's Emissions: More Than U.S. Plus Europe, and Still Rising |website=The New York Times|date=2018-01-25 |access-date=2024-09-18}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/chinese-coal-fuels-rise-in-global-carbon-emissions-2j0kvrd2z |title=Chinese coal fuels rise in global carbon emissions |website=The Times|date=2017-11-14 |access-date=2024-09-18}}{{Cite web |author=PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency |url=http://www.pbl.nl/en/dossiers/Climatechange/Chinanowno1inCO2emissionsUSAinsecondposition |title=China now no. 1 in {{CO2}} emissions; USA in second position |website=pbl.nl |publisher=Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving |language=en, nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815113444/http://www.pbl.nl/en/dossiers/Climatechange/Chinanowno1inCO2emissionsUSAinsecondposition |archive-date=2014-08-15 |access-date=2024-09-18}} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Roser |first1=Max |author1-link=Max Roser |last2=Ritchie |first2=Hannah |author2-link=Hannah Ritchie |title=CO₂ and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions |url=https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions#per-capita-co2-emissions |journal=Our World in Data |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704093506/https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions | archive-date =4 July 2019 |date=11 May 2017 |access-date=2024-09-18}} 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).{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |title=Per capita CO₂ emissions |url=https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions#per-capita-co2-emissions |journal=Our World in Data |access-date=2024-09-18}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |title=How do CO2 emissions compare when we adjust for trade? |url=https://ourworldindata.org/consumption-based-co2 |year=2019 |journal=Our World in Data |access-date=2024-09-18}}

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.{{cite web |last=Klugman |first=Cornelia |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2018)621818 |title=The EU, a world leader in fighting climate change |publisher=European Parliament Think Tank |access-date=2024-09-18}}

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.{{Cite report |chapter= Summary for Policymakers|chapter-url= https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM_final.pdf |author= IPCC |author-link= IPCC |year= 2021 |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis |isbn=978-92-9169-158-6}} The other major anthropogenic greenhouse gases{{refn|group=n|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.}}{{cite journal |author=Grubb, M. |date=July–September 2003 |title=The economics of the Kyoto protocol |url=http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/rstaff/grubb/publications/J36.pdf |journal=World Economics |volume=4 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717152152/http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/rstaff/grubb/publications/J36.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011 |access-date=2024-09-18}}{{Rp|147}}{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781414406251 |title=Environmental issues: essential primary sources |author=Lerner, K. Lee; Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth |year=2006 |location=Detroit |publisher=Thomson Gale |ISBN=1414406258}}) 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.{{Cite web |url=https://physicsworld.com/a/are-our-water-vapour-emissions-warming-the-climate/ |title=Are our water vapour emissions warming the climate? |date=2018-11-15 |website=Physics World|access-date=2024-09-18}} Space-based measurements of carbon dioxide should allow independent monitoring in the mid-2020s.{{Cite journal |date=2021-01-01 |title=The potential of CO2 satellite monitoring for climate governance: A review |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479720313487 |journal=Journal of Environmental Management|volume=277 |page=111423 |doi=10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111423 |issn=0301-4797 |last1=Pan |first1=Guanna |last2=Xu |first2=Yuan |last3=Ma |first3=Jieqi |pmid=33031999 |s2cid=222237434 |access-date=2024-09-18}}