Below, we’ve listed the countries that emit the most greenhouse gases
We’ve specifically identified countries with the most carbon dioxide emissions (i.e. the countries with the largest carbon footprints)
There’s also information available for cumulative, annual and per capita emissions.
Summary – Countries That Emit The Most Greenhouse Gases
Key Ways To Measure Top Emitting Countries
Some of the key ways might be:
– Cumulative emissions (total emissions since a specific year)
– Annual emissions (total emissions in a given one year period)
– Per capita emissions (a ration of population size vs emissions – takes into account population size of a country)
Countries With The Most Cumulative CO2 Emissions
Since 1751, the US is the country with the highest total sum of cumulative CO2 emissions by a significant margin
Country With The Most Annual CO2 Emissions
China is the country with the highest total sum of CO2 emissions annually by a significant margin
According to several reports, China may almost double the US’ annual CO2 emissions in second place
Countries With The Most CO2 Emissions Per Capita
Qatar tops multiple lists for the country with the highest per capita CO2 emissions
And, several MENA countries as well as the US are found in the lists as well
Countries With The Least CO2 Emissions Per Capita
Denmark, followed by Finland top one list for the countries with the least CO2 emissions per capita
Some European countries are also found on the list
Some countries across sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South Asia might have some of the lowest per capita emission rates in the world
Per Capita Emissions Can Change From Year To Year
It’s worth noting that per capita CO2 emissions may vary over the years as population vs emissions ratios change.
Emissions For The United States & China Specifically
As two of the major emitting countries, we put together emissions guides for both the US and China:
The US and their greenhouse gas emissions
China and their greenhouse gas emissions
Sectors That Make Up The Highest Emissions % Share In Top Emitting Countries
wri.org has an interesting chart that shows the top emitting countries, and the sectors within those countries that make up the largest % share of the country’s emissions
Factors That May Impact A Country’s Emissions
There might be a range of factors that can impact a country’s emissions in a given time period
We list some of them in the guide below
Other Considerations About Country Based Emissions Reporting & Data
Below, we discuss how the accuracy and reliability of reporting and data may play a role in assessing country based emissions.
We also point out how being a country that exports vs imports it’s carbon footprint might be important to consider
Countries With The Most Cumulative CO2 Emissions
The US leads all countries for cumulative CO2 emissions since 1751 by a significant margin
China is in second by a significant margin.
Although, when looking at annual emissions in the section below, it might be possible that China gets closer to the US in terms of cumulative emissions in the future
From ourworldindata.org:
[The countries that lead in terms of total sum of CO2 emissions since 1751 and up to 2014, measured in millions of tonnes, are:]
United States – 376,212.65 (Mt)
China – 174,874.89 (Mt)
[Germany is in third at 86,536.42 (Mt), followed by the United Kingdom at 75,237.98 (Mt), and India at 41,784.24 (Mt)]
Countries With The Most Annual CO2 Emissions
China is the country with the highest total sum of CO2 emissions annually by a significant margin
The US is second when excluding ‘Other countries’ categories.
China may currently almost almost double the US’ annual emissions total and share according to some reports
Total (In Mt)
[The countries that lead in terms of total sum of CO2 emissions per year in 2016, measured in millions of tonnes, are:]
China – 10,283.51 (Mt)
US – 5,565.49 (Mt)
[EU-28 (a mix of European countries, with Germany featuring high on the list) is third, followed by India at 2,236.55 (Mt), Russia at 1,669.6 (Mt), and Japan at 1266.6 (Mt)]
– ourworldindata.org
% Share
From chinapower.csis.org, in the year 2017, the share of global CO2 emissions expressed as a % was:
China – 28.3%
Rest Of World – 28.2%
OECD Countries – 21.2%
USA – 15.2%
India – 7.1%
From epa.gov:
[In 2014, the top countries for CO2 emissions were:]
China – 30%
Other – 30%
United States – 15%
[The EU-28 was fourth at 9%, followed by India at 7%, Russia at 5%, and Japan at 4%]
Countries With The Highest Per Capita CO2 Emissions
Qatar tops multiple lists for the country with the highest per capita emissions
MENA countries (Middle East & North Africa) feature in the list, as well as the US
Interestingly, China has a much lower per capita CO2 emission rate that the US and some other countries on the list
Some sub-Sahara African, South American and South Asian countries might have relatively low per capita emissions
From ourworldindata.org:
[The countries with the highest per capita (CO2 emissions per person in the population), measured in tonnes per person per year, are:]
Qatar – 47.83 (tonnes per person per year)
Trinidad & Tobago – 30.06
Kuwait – 25.81
United Arab Emirates – 25.79
Bahrain – 24.51
Brunei – 23.7
[Followed by Saudi Arabia at 19.66, New Caledonia at 18.2, Australia at 16.5, Luxembourg at 16.47, and the United States at 16.44]
[China sits at 7.36]
[Most nations across sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South Asia have per capita emissions below five tonnes per year (many have less than 1-2 tonnes)]
From telegraph.co.uk:
[Qatar is number 1]
[Curacao and Latvia are 2 and 3]
[They are followed in order by Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Trinidad and Tobago, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, and the United States]
Countries With The Lowest CO2 Emissions Per Capita
Countries across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Scandinavia and Europe feature in one list of the countries with the lowest average per capita carbon footprints
Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South Asia might also have some of the lowest total per capita emission footprints
From telegraph.co.uk:
[Denmark is number 1]
[Finland and Nigeria are numbers 2 and 3]
[They are followed in order by Estonia, South Sudan, Myanmar, Tanzania, Zambia, the Netherlands, and Togo]
Most nations across sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South Asia have per capita emissions below five tonnes per year [and some may have …] less than 1-2 tonnes … (ourworldindata.org)
Factors That May Impact A Country’s Emissions
A country’s annual emissions might be impacted by a range of factors, such as:
– The main energy source used in that country’s energy mix. You can read more about the energy mix of some of the major countries worldwide in this guide
– Level of industrialization and/or economic growth
– Population size
– Consumption rate
– Consumption intensity and affluence of lifestyle within a country
– Whether a country is a producer or consumer country (i.e. whether they mainly export or import their carbon footprint)
– Plus other factors
Other Considerations For Country Based Emissions Reporting & Data
– Accuracy & Reliability Of Emissions Data
Some reports that indicate that the data provided by some countries about carbon dioxide or general greenhouse gas emissions in their reporting may be questioned in terms of accuracy or reliability.
Without speculating on why different governments or reporting bodies may do this, it might at least worth be keeping in mind.
– Exports & Imports
Something else to be aware of when looking at emissions from different countries is the emissions contained in exported goods, and also imported goods.
Some countries can be mass producers and manufacturers, but end up exporting materials and goods to other countries who consume them (this is where it’s important to look at producer vs consumer countries and cities … i.e. countries who export vs import their emissions footprint)
A true emission footprint in this instance needs to take into account the countries responsible for the emissions via consumption.
City Level Emissions
Separate to emissions on the country level, some of the recent data that has come out has been on emissions at the city level.
You can read a list of the top emitting cities in the world here.
Read More About A Changing Climate
If you’re interested in reading more about a changing climate, we’ve outlined what might be some of the basic information to consider, and have also outlined what some of the potential solutions are that have generally been proposed to address it
Sources
1. https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions
2. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data
3. https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5988/economics/list-of-countries-energy-use-per-capita/
4. https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/6131/economics/list-of-co2-emissions-per-capita/
5. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/mapped-the-countries-that-use-the-most-electricity/
6. https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/interactive-chart-explains-worlds-top-10-emitters-and-how-theyve-changed
7. https://chinapower.csis.org/china-greenhouse-gas-emissions/
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