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id	title	slug	type	status	content	archieml	archieml_update_statistics	published_at	updated_at	gdocSuccessorId	authors	excerpt	created_at_in_wordpress	updated_at_in_wordpress	featured_image	formattingOptions	markdown	wpApiSnapshot
34070	Emissions by sector	emissions-by-sector	page	publish	<!-- wp:html --> <!-- formatting-options subnavId:co2 subnavCurrentId:by-sector --> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You can <strong><a href="https://github.com/owid/co2-data">download</a></strong> our complete <em>Our World in Data</em> CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To effectively reduce emissions we need to know where they are coming from – which sectors contribute the most? How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below we look at the breakdown of emissions – total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually – by sector.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp-block-tombstone 36503 --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tonnes of greenhouse gases</a> each year <em>[measured in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon dioxide equivalents</a> (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)]</em>.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO<sub>2</sub> gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO<sub>2</sub>; it basically measures the ‘strength’ of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions <em>can </em>and <em>can’t</em> be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one – it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions" target="_blank">Climate Watch</a> and the World Resources Institute.{ref}<em>The World Resources Institute also provides a nice </em><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector"><em>visualization of these emissions</em></a><em> as a Sankey flow diagram</em>.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5),  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. <br><br>IPCC (2014): <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use  <em>[this increases to one-quarter </em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank"><em>when we consider</em></a><em> the food system as a whole – including processing, packaging, transport and retail]</em>; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To know what’s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{ref}IPCC, 2014: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf" target="_blank">Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy</a>, <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Even within the energy sector – which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions – there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we’d still have emissions from shipping and aviation –  which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for – to deal with.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator"/> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-right"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Energy use in industry: 24.2%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Iron and Steel (7.2%)</strong>: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Food and tobacco (1%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: </strong>Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Paper & pulp (0.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Machinery (0.5%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other industry (10.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Transport: 16.2%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Road transport (11.9%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030" target="_blank">come from</a> passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Aviation (1.9%): </strong>emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf" target="_blank">come from</a> passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). <a href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf">CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018</a>. <em>The International Council of Clean Transportation</em>.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Shipping (1.7%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rail (0.4%): </strong>emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pipeline (0.3%): </strong>fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere – however, this aspect is captured in the category ‘Fugitive emissions from energy production’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Energy use in buildings: 17.5%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Residential buildings (10.9%):</strong> energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Commercial buildings (6.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): </strong>fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):</strong> fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cement (3%): </strong>carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO<sub>2</sub> as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): </strong>greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO<sub>2  </sub>can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Waste: 3.2%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wastewater (1.3%): </strong>organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Landfills (1.9%): </strong>landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Grassland (0.1%): </strong>when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for  example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.<strong> </strong>Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from<strong> </strong>grassland biomass and soils.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cropland (1.4%): </strong>depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO<sub>2</sub> can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Deforestation (2.2%): </strong>net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Crop burning (3.5%): </strong>the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. <em>Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rice cultivation (1.3%):</strong> flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS" target="_blank">estimates that</a> the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Agricultural soils (4.1%):</strong> Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Livestock & manure (5.8%): </strong>animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane" target="_blank">produce methane as a by-product</a>. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local" target="_blank">reduce the emissions</a> of your diet.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:image {"id":36441,"sizeSlug":"full"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png" alt="" class="wp-image-36441"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><a href="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx">Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)</a></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Annual</strong> greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:owid/help --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:owid/help --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Per capita </strong>greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":5} --> <h5>Related article:</h5> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"The breakdown of emissions from our diets","linkUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local","mediaId":29928,"mediaUrl":"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage.png","mediaAlt":"","className":"is-style-thin"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:owid/prominent-link --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this chart we show how the <em>average person's</em> emissions would be distributed across the different sectors – in effect, this shows the average 'footprint', measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:owid/help --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- /wp:owid/help --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Annual CO<sub>2</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions – this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions? Where does our CO<sub>2</sub> come from?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This chart shows the distribution of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions across sectors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The global breakdown for CO<sub>2</sub> is similar to that of total greenhouse gases – electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that <em>direct</em> agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from <a href="https://owid.cloud/meat-production">livestock</a>) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of <a href="https://owid.cloud/fertilizers">fertilizers</a>).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Per capita CO<sub>2</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Annual CH<sub>4</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions">comes from livestock</a> (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. 'Fugitive emissions' represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Per capita CH<sub>4</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":5} --> <h5>Related article:</h5> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods","linkUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane","mediaId":30425,"mediaUrl":"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4.png","mediaAlt":"","className":"is-style-thin"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:owid/prominent-link --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:owid/help --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Enter help content..."} --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:owid/help --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Annual N<sub>2</sub></strong>O emissions by sector</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N<sub>2</sub>O – this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL">rapidly increased</a> over the past 50 years in particular, N<sub>2</sub>O emissions <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL">have also increased</a>. But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3><strong>Per capita <strong>N<sub>2</sub></strong>O:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-sticky-left"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp-block-tombstone 29607 --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on ‘clean energy’ solutions – the deployment of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy">renewable</a> or nuclear energy; improvements in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies">energy efficiency</a>; or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority – 76% – of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref} IPCC, 2014: <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report</em></a><em>. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} <br><br>But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it’s a problem for which we don’t yet have viable technological solutions.<br><br>The visualization shown here – based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in <em>Science</em> – summarizes food’s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}<br><br>Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions</strong>. <br>Livestock – animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production – contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock – mainly cattle – for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm ‘production’ emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.</strong> <br>21% of food’s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production – this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions.<br></strong>Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It’s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8%<br>Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon ‘sinks’ into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. ‘Land use’ here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils).  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions</strong>.<br>Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food’s total emissions – only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it’s essential for <em>reducing</em> emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A. (2013). The methodology of the FAO study: ‘Global food losses and food waste—extent, causes and prevention’ - <em>FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK</em>.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources">energy production</a> where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy –  <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy">renewable</a> or nuclear energy –  are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can’t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":28080} --> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-768x719.png" alt="" class="wp-image-28080"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp-block-tombstone 30868 --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Food production <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions">accounts for</a> around one-quarter – 26% – of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref} Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it’s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What’s harder to make sense of is the amount of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions">greenhouse gas emissions</a> which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they’re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). <a href="https://wrr-food.wri.org/">Creating a Sustainable Food Future—A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050</a>. <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref} To produce this food we need <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/land-use">land</a>, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress">water</a>, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy">energy</a>, and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers">fertilizer</a> inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in <em>Science</em>, estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter – 24% – of food’s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it’s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To put this in context: it’s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the <em>World Resource Institute</em>’s <a href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% – around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the <em>World Resources Institute </em><strong><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector">here</a></strong>.{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world’s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We’re comparing food waste with country emissions <em>without </em>accounting for the fact that these ‘food waste’ emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country’s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor – India – would see a slight <em>drop</em> in emissions. And it’s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>eq) – 2.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from consumer waste.<br><br>The <em>World Resource Institute</em>’s <a href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref}</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":30866,"sizeSlug":"full"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png" alt="" class="wp-image-30866"/></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->	{ "id": "wp-34070", "slug": "emissions-by-sector", "content": { "toc": [], "body": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "You can\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "url": "https://github.com/owid/co2-data", "children": [ { "text": "download", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "\u00a0our complete ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Our World in Data", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. 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However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "IPCC (2014): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "[this increases to one-quarter ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "when we consider", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "children": [ { "text": " the food system as a whole \u2013 including processing, packaging, transport and retail]", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": "; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To know what\u2019s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC\u2019s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resources Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{ref}IPCC, 2014: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schl\u00f6mer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": ",", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-superscript" }, { "text": "{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf", "children": [ { "text": "Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ", ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resources Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute\u00a0to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Even within the energy sector \u2013 which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions \u2013 there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we\u2019d still have emissions from shipping and aviation \u2013\u00a0 which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for \u2013 to deal with.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Let\u2019s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy use in industry: 24.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Iron and Steel (7.2%)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": ": energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Food and tobacco (1%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Paper & pulp (0.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Machinery (0.5%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Other industry (10.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Transport: 16.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment \u2013 this is included in the previous point \u2018Energy use in Industry\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Road transport (11.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030", "children": [ { "text": "come from", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Aviation (1.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf", "children": [ { "text": "come from", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf", "children": [ { "text": "CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "The International Council of Clean Transportation", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Shipping (1.7%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Rail (0.4%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Pipeline (0.3%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere \u2013 however, this aspect is captured in the category \u2018Fugitive emissions from energy production\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy use in buildings: 17.5%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Residential buildings (10.9%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Commercial buildings (6.6%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring \u2013 the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction \u2013 producers often don\u2019t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn\u2019t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Cement (3%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "3", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes \u2013 for example, CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Waste: 3.2%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Wastewater (1.3%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Landfills (1.9%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole \u2013 including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport \u2013 accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Grassland (0.1%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for\u00a0 example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "grassland biomass and soils.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Cropland (1.4%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Deforestation (2.2%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as \u2018negative emissions\u2019 and deforestation as \u2018positive emissions\u2019. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Crop burning (3.5%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "the burning of agricultural residues \u2013 leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops \u2013 releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Rice cultivation (1.3%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called \u2018anaerobic digestion\u2019. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it\u2019s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS", "children": [ { "text": "estimates that", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Agricultural soils (4.1%):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " Nitrous oxide \u2013 a strong greenhouse gas \u2013 is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products \u2013 including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Livestock & manure (5.8%): ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019 \u2013 when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane", "children": [ { "text": "produce methane as a by-product", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local", "children": [ { "text": "reduce the emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " of your diet.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems \u2018Livestock\u2019 emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only \u2013 they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "alt": "", "size": "wide", "type": "image", "filename": "Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png", "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "url": "https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx", "children": [ { "text": "Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Annual", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " greenhouse gas emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "How you can interact with this chart", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "On these charts you see the button ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Change Country ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Per capita ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Related article:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 5, "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "The breakdown of emissions from our diets", "description": "You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In this chart we show how the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "average person's", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " emissions would be distributed across the different sectors \u2013 in effect, this shows the average 'footprint', measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "How you can interact with this chart", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "On these charts you see the button ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Change Country ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") emissions? Where does our CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " come from?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This chart shows the distribution of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions across sectors.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The global breakdown for CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " is similar to that of total greenhouse gases \u2013 electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "direct", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://owid.cloud/meat-production", "children": [ { "text": "livestock", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ") and nitrous oxide (released from the application of ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://owid.cloud/fertilizers", "children": [ { "text": "fertilizers", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ").", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Per capita CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ":", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " where do our emissions come from?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Methane (CH", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "4", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Annual CH", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "4", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The breakdown of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "comes from livestock", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. 'Fugitive emissions' represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Per capita CH", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "4", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ":", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " where do our emissions come from?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Related article:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 5, "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods", "description": "The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane?", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "4", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "How you can interact with this chart", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "On these charts you see the button ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Change Country ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Nitrous oxide (N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "O) emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Annual N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "O emissions by sector", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "O \u2013 this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL", "children": [ { "text": "rapidly increased", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " over the past 50 years in particular, N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "O emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL", "children": [ { "text": "have also increased", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Per capita ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "O:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": " where do our emissions come from?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on \u2018clean energy\u2019 solutions \u2013 the deployment of ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy", "children": [ { "text": "renewable", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " or nuclear energy; improvements in ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies", "children": [ { "text": "energy efficiency", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": "; or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority \u2013 76% \u2013 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref}\u00a0IPCC, 2014: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "children": [ { "text": ". Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it\u2019s a problem for which we don\u2019t yet have viable technological solutions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "The visualization shown here \u2013 based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Science", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " \u2013 summarizes food\u2019s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987", "children": [ { "text": "Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Science", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ", 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": ".\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "Livestock \u2013 animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production \u2013 contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock \u2013 mainly cattle \u2013 for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm \u2018production\u2019 emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "21% of food\u2019s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production \u2013 this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It\u2019s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8%", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon \u2018sinks\u2019 into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. \u2018Land use\u2019 here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils).\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food\u2019s total emissions \u2013 only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it\u2019s essential for ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "reducing", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A.\u00a0(2013).\u00a0The methodology of the FAO study: \u2018Global food losses and food waste\u2014extent, causes and prevention\u2019 - ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources", "children": [ { "text": "energy production", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy \u2013\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy", "children": [ { "text": "renewable", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " or nuclear energy \u2013\u00a0 are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can\u2019t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable.\u00a0 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "alt": "", "size": "wide", "type": "image", "filename": "How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food.png", "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Food production ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "accounts for", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " around one-quarter \u2013 26% \u2013 of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}\u00a0Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987", "children": [ { "text": "Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Science", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ", 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it\u2019s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "What\u2019s harder to make sense of is the amount of ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "greenhouse gas emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they\u2019re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://wrr-food.wri.org/", "children": [ { "text": "Creating a Sustainable Food Future\u2014A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resources Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref} To produce this food we need ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/land-use", "children": [ { "text": "land", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ", ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress", "children": [ { "text": "water", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ", ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/energy", "children": [ { "text": "energy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ", and ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers", "children": [ { "text": "fertilizer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Science", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ", estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987", "children": [ { "text": "Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Science", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ", 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter \u2013 24% \u2013 of food\u2019s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it\u2019s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To put this in context: it\u2019s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resource Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": "\u2019s ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "CAIT Climate Data Explorer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% \u2013 around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resources Institute ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "children": [ { "url": "https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": ".{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world\u2019s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We\u2019re comparing food waste with country emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "without ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": "accounting for the fact that these \u2018food waste\u2019 emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country\u2019s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor \u2013 India \u2013 would see a slight ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "drop", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " in emissions. And it\u2019s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq) \u2013 2.1 GtCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq from consumer waste.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "spanType": "span-newline" }, { "text": "The ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "World Resource Institute", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": "\u2019s ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "CAIT Climate Data Explorer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref}", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "alt": "", "size": "wide", "type": "image", "filename": "GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "article", "title": "Emissions by sector", "authors": [ "Hannah Ritchie", "Max Roser" ], "excerpt": "How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?", "dateline": "June 10, 2020", "subtitle": "How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?", "sidebar-toc": false, "featured-image": "per-capita-ghg-sector.png" }, "createdAt": "2020-06-10T16:59:03.000Z", "published": false, "updatedAt": "2022-09-07T10:28:09.000Z", "revisionId": null, "publishedAt": "2020-06-10T15:59:03.000Z", "relatedCharts": [], "publicationContext": "listed" }	{ "errors": [ { "name": "unhandled html tag found", "details": "Encountered the unhandled tag hr" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag separator" }, { "name": "unhandled html tag found", "details": "Encountered the unhandled tag hr" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag separator" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag image" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag owid/help" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag owid/help" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag owid/help" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag image" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag image" } ], "numBlocks": 57, "numErrors": 12, "wpTagCounts": { "html": 9, "list": 2, "image": 3, "column": 18, "columns": 9, "heading": 31, "owid/help": 3, "paragraph": 93, "separator": 2, "owid/prominent-link": 2 }, "htmlTagCounts": { "p": 93, "h2": 7, "h3": 12, "h4": 10, "h5": 2, "hr": 2, "ul": 2, "div": 27, "figure": 3, "iframe": 8 } }	2020-06-10 15:59:03	2024-02-16 14:22:40	1mb0_V9hfqoimPOFjhX1eVytNZpjiKcOcrUjZuUxbv2g	[ "Hannah Ritchie", "Max Roser" ]	How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?	2020-06-10 16:59:03	2022-09-07 10:28:09	https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/per-capita-ghg-sector.png	{ "subnavId": "co2", "subnavCurrentId": "by-sector" }	You can [download](https://github.com/owid/co2-data) our complete _Our World in Data_ CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database. Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. To effectively reduce emissions we need to know where they are coming from – which sectors contribute the most? How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies? Below we look at the breakdown of emissions – total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually – by sector. ## Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from? To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion [tonnes of greenhouse gases](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=) each year _[measured in [carbon dioxide equivalents](https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured) (CO2eq)]_.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO2 gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO2; it basically measures the ‘strength’ of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions _can _and _can’t_ be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from. In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one – it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by [Climate Watch](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) and the World Resources Institute.{ref}_The World Resources Institute also provides a nice _[_visualization of these emissions_](https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector)_ as a Sankey flow diagram_.{/ref},{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. IPCC (2014): [_Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/) [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use _[this increases to one-quarter _[_when we consider_](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions)_ the food system as a whole – including processing, packaging, transport and retail]_; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste. To know what’s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the _World Resources Institute_.{ref}IPCC, 2014: [_Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/) [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref},{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). [Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy](https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf), _World Resources Institute_.{/ref} #### Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient. Even within the energy sector – which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions – there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we’d still have emissions from shipping and aviation – which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for – to deal with. To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there. Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one. ### Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2% #### Energy use in industry: 24.2% Iron and Steel (7.2%): energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel. Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc. Food and tobacco (1%): energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread). Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions. Paper & pulp (0.6%): energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp. Machinery (0.5%): energy-related emissions from the production of machinery. Other industry (10.6%): energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing). #### Transport: 16.2% This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry’. Road transport (11.9%): emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions [come from](https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030) passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%. Aviation (1.9%): emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions [come from](https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf) passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). [CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018](https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf). _The International Council of Clean Transportation_.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic. Shipping (1.7%): emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips. Rail (0.4%): emissions from passenger and freight rail travel. Pipeline (0.3%): fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere – however, this aspect is captured in the category ‘Fugitive emissions from energy production’. #### Energy use in buildings: 17.5% Residential buildings (10.9%): energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home. Commercial buildings (6.6%): energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops. #### Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%) Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage. #### Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8% Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so. Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%): fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining. #### Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%) Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels. ### Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2% Cement (3%): carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO3) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO2 as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO2 can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. ### Waste: 3.2% Wastewater (1.3%): organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide. Landfills (1.9%): landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes. ### Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4% Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail [here](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions). Grassland (0.1%): when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered. Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from grassland biomass and soils. Cropland (1.4%): depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO2 can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock. Deforestation (2.2%): net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils. Crop burning (3.5%): the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. _Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops._ Rice cultivation (1.3%): flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization [estimates that](http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS) the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref} Agricultural soils (4.1%): Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton). Livestock & manure (5.8%): animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they [produce methane as a by-product](https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane). This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to [reduce the emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local) of your diet. Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed. <Image filename="Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png" alt=""/> _[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]_ _[Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)](https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx)_ ## By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector ### Annual greenhouse gas emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector"/> Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change. #### How you can interact with this chart On these charts you see the button Change Country in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world. ### Per capita greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector"/> ##### Related article: ### The breakdown of emissions from our diets You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from. In this chart we show how the _average person's_ emissions would be distributed across the different sectors – in effect, this shows the average 'footprint', measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. #### How you can interact with this chart * On these charts you see the button Change Country in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world. * If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time. ## CO2 emissions by sector ### Annual CO2 emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector"/> The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions – this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases. How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Where does our CO2 come from? This chart shows the distribution of CO2 emissions across sectors. The global breakdown for CO2 is similar to that of total greenhouse gases – electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that _direct_ agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from [livestock](https://owid.cloud/meat-production)) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of [fertilizers](https://owid.cloud/fertilizers)). Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. ### Per capita CO2: where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector"/> In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO2 emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries. ## Methane (CH4) emissions by sector ### Annual CH4 emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector"/> The breakdown of CO2 emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely. The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane [comes from livestock](https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions) (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions. Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. 'Fugitive emissions' represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example. Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose. ### Per capita CH4: where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector"/> ##### Related article: ### The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane? https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH4) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. #### How you can interact with this chart * On these charts you see the button Change Country in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world. * If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time. ## Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by sector ### Annual N2O emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector"/> Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows. Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N2O – this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops. As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has [rapidly increased](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL) over the past 50 years in particular, N2O emissions [have also increased](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL). But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure. ### Per capita N2O: where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector"/> In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture. ## Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on ‘clean energy’ solutions – the deployment of [renewable](https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy) or nuclear energy; improvements in [energy efficiency](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies); or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority – 76% – of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref} IPCC, 2014: [_Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/)_. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_ [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it’s a problem for which we don’t yet have viable technological solutions. The visualization shown here – based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in _Science_ – summarizes food’s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). [Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987). _Science_, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions. There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization: Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions. Livestock – animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production – contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock – mainly cattle – for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm ‘production’ emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories. Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions. 21% of food’s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production – this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery. Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions. Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It’s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries. This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8% Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon ‘sinks’ into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. ‘Land use’ here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils). Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions. Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food’s total emissions – only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it’s essential for _reducing_ emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO2eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A. (2013). The methodology of the FAO study: ‘Global food losses and food waste—extent, causes and prevention’ - _FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK_.{/ref} Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of [energy production](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources) where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy – [renewable](https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy) or nuclear energy – are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can’t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable. <Image filename="How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food.png" alt=""/> ## Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions Food production [accounts for](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions) around one-quarter – 26% – of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref} Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). [Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987). _Science_, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it’s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need. What’s harder to make sense of is the amount of [greenhouse gas emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions) which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten. Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they’re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). [Creating a Sustainable Food Future—A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050](https://wrr-food.wri.org/). _World Resources Institute_.{/ref} To produce this food we need [land](https://ourworldindata.org/land-use), [water](https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress), [energy](https://ourworldindata.org/energy), and [fertilizer](https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers) inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost. Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in _Science_, estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). [Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987). _Science_, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions. The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter – 24% – of food’s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers. This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it’s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting. To put this in context: it’s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the _World Resource Institute_’s [CAIT Climate Data Explorer](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% – around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the _World Resources Institute _[here](https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector).{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world’s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We’re comparing food waste with country emissions _without _accounting for the fact that these ‘food waste’ emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each. This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country’s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor – India – would see a slight _drop_ in emissions. And it’s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap. If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) – 2.1 GtCO2eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO2eq from consumer waste. The _World Resource Institute_’s [CAIT Climate Data Explorer](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO2eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO2eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO2eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref} <Image filename="GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png" alt=""/>	{ "id": 34070, "date": "2020-06-10T16:59:03", "guid": { "rendered": "https://owid.cloud/?page_id=34070" }, "link": "https://owid.cloud/emissions-by-sector", "meta": { "owid_publication_context_meta_field": [], "owid_key_performance_indicators_meta_field": [] }, "slug": "emissions-by-sector", "tags": [], "type": "page", "title": { "rendered": "Emissions by sector" }, "_links": { "self": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/pages/34070" } ], "about": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/types/page" } ], "author": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/users/17", "embeddable": true } ], "curies": [ { "href": "https://api.w.org/{rel}", "name": "wp", "templated": true } ], "replies": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=34070", "embeddable": true } ], "wp:term": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=34070", "taxonomy": "category", "embeddable": true }, { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=34070", "taxonomy": "post_tag", "embeddable": true } ], "collection": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/pages" } ], "wp:attachment": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=34070" } ], "version-history": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/pages/34070/revisions", "count": 19 } ], "wp:featuredmedia": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media/35876", "embeddable": true } ], "predecessor-version": [ { "id": 52750, "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/pages/34070/revisions/52750" } ] }, "author": 17, "parent": 0, "status": "publish", "content": { "rendered": "\n<!-- formatting-options subnavId:co2 subnavCurrentId:by-sector -->\n\n\n\n<p>You can <strong><a href=\"https://github.com/owid/co2-data\">download</a></strong> our complete <em>Our World in Data</em> CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"/>\n\n\n\n<p>Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>To effectively reduce emissions we need to know where they are coming from \u2013 which sectors contribute the most? How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we look at the breakdown of emissions \u2013 total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually \u2013 by sector.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tonnes of greenhouse gases</a> each year <em>[measured in <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carbon dioxide equivalents</a> (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)]</em>.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO<sub>2</sub> gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their \u2018global warming potential\u2019 (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO<sub>2</sub>; it basically measures the \u2018strength\u2019 of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} </p>\n\n\n\n<p>To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions <em>can </em>and <em>can\u2019t</em> be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one \u2013 it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\">Climate Watch</a> and the World Resources Institute.{ref}<em>The World Resources Institute also provides a nice </em><a href=\"https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector\"><em>visualization of these emissions</em></a><em> as a Sankey flow diagram</em>.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5),  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. <br><br>IPCC (2014): <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use  <em>[this increases to one-quarter </em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\"><em>when we consider</em></a><em> the food system as a whole \u2013 including processing, packaging, transport and retail]</em>; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To know what\u2019s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC\u2019s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{ref}IPCC, 2014: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schl\u00f6mer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy</a>, <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even within the energy sector \u2013 which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions \u2013 there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we\u2019d still have emissions from shipping and aviation \u2013  which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for \u2013 to deal with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Let\u2019s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in industry: 24.2%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Iron and Steel (7.2%)</strong>: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Food and tobacco (1%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: </strong>Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paper & pulp (0.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Machinery (0.5%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other industry (10.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Transport: 16.2%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment \u2013 this is included in the previous point \u2018Energy use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Road transport (11.9%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030\" target=\"_blank\">come from</a> passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aviation (1.9%): </strong>emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">come from</a> passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). <a href=\"https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf\">CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018</a>. <em>The International Council of Clean Transportation</em>.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shipping (1.7%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rail (0.4%): </strong>emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pipeline (0.3%): </strong>fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere \u2013 however, this aspect is captured in the category \u2018Fugitive emissions from energy production\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in buildings: 17.5%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Residential buildings (10.9%):</strong> energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Commercial buildings (6.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): </strong>fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring \u2013 the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction \u2013 producers often don\u2019t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn\u2019t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):</strong> fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cement (3%): </strong>carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO<sub>2</sub> as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): </strong>greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes \u2013 for example, CO<sub>2  </sub>can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Waste: 3.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wastewater (1.3%): </strong>organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Landfills (1.9%): </strong>landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole \u2013 including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport \u2013 accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grassland (0.1%): </strong>when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for  example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.<strong> </strong>Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from<strong> </strong>grassland biomass and soils.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cropland (1.4%): </strong>depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO<sub>2</sub> can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Deforestation (2.2%): </strong>net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as \u2018negative emissions\u2019 and deforestation as \u2018positive emissions\u2019. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Crop burning (3.5%): </strong>the burning of agricultural residues \u2013 leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops \u2013 releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. <em>Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rice cultivation (1.3%):</strong> flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called \u2018anaerobic digestion\u2019. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it\u2019s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS\" target=\"_blank\">estimates that</a> the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Agricultural soils (4.1%):</strong> Nitrous oxide \u2013 a strong greenhouse gas \u2013 is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products \u2013 including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Livestock & manure (5.8%): </strong>animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019 \u2013 when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane\" target=\"_blank\">produce methane as a by-product</a>. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local\" target=\"_blank\">reduce the emissions</a> of your diet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems \u2018Livestock\u2019 emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only \u2013 they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1302\" height=\"1233\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36441\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png 1302w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-400x379.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-581x550.png 581w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-150x142.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-768x727.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx\">Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)</a></em></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual</strong> greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change.</p>\n\n\n\t<block type=\"help\">\n\t\t<content>\n\n<h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</p>\n\n</content>\n\t</block></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita </strong>greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<h5>Related article:</h5>\n\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local</link-url>\n <title>The breakdown of emissions from our diets</title>\n <content>\n\n<p>You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local</p>\n\n</content>\n <figure><img width=\"768\" height=\"690\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-768x690.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-768x690.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-400x359.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-612x550.png 612w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-150x135.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-1536x1380.png 1536w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-2048x1840.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n </block></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this chart we show how the <em>average person’s</em> emissions would be distributed across the different sectors \u2013 in effect, this shows the average ‘footprint’, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.</p>\n\n\n\t<block type=\"help\">\n\t\t<content>\n\n<h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul>\n\n</content>\n\t</block></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual CO<sub>2</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions? Where does our CO<sub>2</sub> come from?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This chart shows the distribution of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions across sectors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The global breakdown for CO<sub>2</sub> is similar to that of total greenhouse gases \u2013 electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that <em>direct</em> agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from <a href=\"https://owid.cloud/meat-production\">livestock</a>) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of <a href=\"https://owid.cloud/fertilizers\">fertilizers</a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. </p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita CO<sub>2</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual CH<sub>4</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">comes from livestock</a> (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. ‘Fugitive emissions’ represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita CH<sub>4</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<h5>Related article:</h5>\n\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane</link-url>\n <title>The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods</title>\n <content>\n\n<p>The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane?</p>\n\n</content>\n <figure><img width=\"768\" height=\"742\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-768x742.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-768x742.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-400x386.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-570x550.png 570w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-150x145.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-1536x1483.png 1536w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-2048x1978.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n </block></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>\n\n\n\t<block type=\"help\">\n\t\t<content>\n\n<h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n</content>\n\t</block></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual N<sub>2</sub></strong>O emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N<sub>2</sub>O \u2013 this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL\">rapidly increased</a> over the past 50 years in particular, N<sub>2</sub>O emissions <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL\">have also increased</a>. But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita <strong>N<sub>2</sub></strong>O:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on \u2018clean energy\u2019 solutions \u2013 the deployment of <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy\">renewable</a> or nuclear energy; improvements in <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies\">energy efficiency</a>; or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority \u2013 76% \u2013 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref} IPCC, 2014: <a href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report</em></a><em>. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} <br><br>But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it\u2019s a problem for which we don\u2019t yet have viable technological solutions.<br><br>The visualization shown here \u2013 based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in <em>Science</em> \u2013 summarizes food\u2019s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href=\"https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987\">Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}<br><br>Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions</strong>. <br>Livestock \u2013 animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production \u2013 contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock \u2013 mainly cattle \u2013 for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm \u2018production\u2019 emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.</strong> <br>21% of food\u2019s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production \u2013 this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions.<br></strong>Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It\u2019s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8%<br>Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon \u2018sinks\u2019 into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. \u2018Land use\u2019 here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils).  </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions</strong>.<br>Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food\u2019s total emissions \u2013 only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it\u2019s essential for <em>reducing</em> emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A.\u00a0(2013).\u00a0The methodology of the FAO study: \u2018Global food losses and food waste\u2014extent, causes and prevention\u2019 – <em>FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK</em>.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources\">energy production</a> where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy \u2013  <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy\">renewable</a> or nuclear energy \u2013  are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can\u2019t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable.  </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"719\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-768x719.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28080\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-768x719.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-400x374.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-588x550.png 588w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-150x140.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-1536x1438.png 1536w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food.png 1624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Food production <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\">accounts for</a> around one-quarter \u2013 26% \u2013 of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref} Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href=\"https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987\">Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it\u2019s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s harder to make sense of is the amount of <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">greenhouse gas emissions</a> which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they\u2019re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). <a href=\"https://wrr-food.wri.org/\">Creating a Sustainable Food Future\u2014A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050</a>. <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref} To produce this food we need <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/land-use\">land</a>, <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress\">water</a>, <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy\">energy</a>, and <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers\">fertilizer</a> inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in <em>Science</em>, estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href=\"https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987\">Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter \u2013 24% \u2013 of food\u2019s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it\u2019s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To put this in context: it\u2019s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the <em>World Resource Institute</em>\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% \u2013 around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the <em>World Resources Institute </em><strong><a href=\"https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector\">here</a></strong>.{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world\u2019s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We\u2019re comparing food waste with country emissions <em>without </em>accounting for the fact that these \u2018food waste\u2019 emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country\u2019s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor \u2013 India \u2013 would see a slight <em>drop</em> in emissions. And it\u2019s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>eq) \u2013 2.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from consumer waste.<br><br>The <em>World Resource Institute</em>\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1416\" height=\"617\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30866\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png 1416w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-400x174.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-800x349.png 800w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-150x65.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-768x335.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1416px) 100vw, 1416px\" /></figure>\n", "protected": false }, "excerpt": { "rendered": "How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?", "protected": false }, "date_gmt": "2020-06-10T15:59:03", "modified": "2022-09-07T11:28:09", "template": "", "categories": [], "menu_order": 131, "ping_status": "closed", "authors_name": [ "Hannah Ritchie", "Max Roser" ], "modified_gmt": "2022-09-07T10:28:09", "comment_status": "closed", "featured_media": 35876, "featured_media_paths": { "thumbnail": "/app/uploads/2020/08/per-capita-ghg-sector-150x106.png", "medium_large": "/app/uploads/2020/08/per-capita-ghg-sector-768x542.png" } }

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<p>You can <strong><a href="https://github.com/owid/co2-data">download</a></strong> our complete <em>Our World in Data</em> CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database.</p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator"/>   <p>Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. </p>   <p>To effectively reduce emissions we need to know where they are coming from – which sectors contribute the most? How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies?</p>   <p>Below we look at the breakdown of emissions – total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually – by sector.</p>   <h2>Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?</h2>    <p>To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tonnes of greenhouse gases</a> each year <em>[measured in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">carbon dioxide equivalents</a> (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)]</em>.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO<sub>2</sub> gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO<sub>2</sub>; it basically measures the ‘strength’ of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} </p>   <p>To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions <em>can </em>and <em>can’t</em> be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.</p>   <p>In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one – it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions" target="_blank">Climate Watch</a> and the World Resources Institute.{ref}<em>The World Resources Institute also provides a nice </em><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector"><em>visualization of these emissions</em></a><em> as a Sankey flow diagram</em>.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5),  the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. <br><br>IPCC (2014): <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}</p>   <p>The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use  <em>[this increases to one-quarter </em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank"><em>when we consider</em></a><em> the food system as a whole – including processing, packaging, transport and retail]</em>; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.</p>   <p>To know what’s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{ref}IPCC, 2014: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/" target="_blank"><em>Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf" target="_blank">Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy</a>, <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref}</p>   <h4>Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy</h4>   <p>It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.</p>   <p>Even within the energy sector – which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions – there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we’d still have emissions from shipping and aviation –  which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for – to deal with.</p>   <p>To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.</p>   <hr class="wp-block-separator"/>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.</p>   <h3>Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%</h3>   <h4>Energy use in industry: 24.2%</h4>   <p><strong>Iron and Steel (7.2%)</strong>: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.</p>   <p><strong>Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.</p>   <p><strong>Food and tobacco (1%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).</p>   <p><strong>Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: </strong>Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.</p>   <p><strong>Paper & pulp (0.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.</p>   <p><strong>Machinery (0.5%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.</p>   <p><strong>Other industry (10.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).</p>   <h4>Transport: 16.2%</h4>   <p>This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry’.</p>   <p><strong>Road transport (11.9%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030" target="_blank">come from</a> passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.</p>   <p><strong>Aviation (1.9%): </strong>emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf" target="_blank">come from</a> passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). <a href="https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf">CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018</a>. <em>The International Council of Clean Transportation</em>.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.</p>   <p><strong>Shipping (1.7%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.</p>   <p><strong>Rail (0.4%): </strong>emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.</p>   <p><strong>Pipeline (0.3%): </strong>fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere – however, this aspect is captured in the category ‘Fugitive emissions from energy production’.</p>   <h4>Energy use in buildings: 17.5%</h4>   <p><strong>Residential buildings (10.9%):</strong> energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.</p>   <p><strong>Commercial buildings (6.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.</p>   <h4>Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)</h4>   <p>Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.</p>   <h4>Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%</h4>   <p><strong>Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): </strong>fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.</p>   <p><strong>Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):</strong> fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.</p>   <h4>Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)</h4>   <p>Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.</p>   <h3>Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%</h3>   <p><strong>Cement (3%): </strong>carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO<sub>2</sub> as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’.</p>   <p><strong>Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): </strong>greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO<sub>2  </sub>can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’.</p>   <h3>Waste: 3.2%</h3>   <p><strong>Wastewater (1.3%): </strong>organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.</p>   <p><strong>Landfills (1.9%): </strong>landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.</p>   <h3>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%</h3>   <p>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>   <p><strong>Grassland (0.1%): </strong>when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for  example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.<strong> </strong>Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from<strong> </strong>grassland biomass and soils.</p>   <p><strong>Cropland (1.4%): </strong>depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO<sub>2</sub> can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.</p>   <p><strong>Deforestation (2.2%): </strong>net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.</p>   <p><strong>Crop burning (3.5%): </strong>the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. <em>Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.</em></p>   <p><strong>Rice cultivation (1.3%):</strong> flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS" target="_blank">estimates that</a> the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}</p>   <p><strong>Agricultural soils (4.1%):</strong> Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).</p>   <p><strong>Livestock & manure (5.8%): </strong>animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane" target="_blank">produce methane as a by-product</a>. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local" target="_blank">reduce the emissions</a> of your diet.</p>   <p>Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.</p> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png" alt="" class="wp-image-36441"/></figure>   <p><em>[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]</em></p>   <p><em><a href="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx">Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)</a></em></p> </div> </div>   <h2>By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h2>   <h3><strong>Annual</strong> greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? </p>   <p>This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. </p>   <p>Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. </p>   <p>But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change.</p>    <h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>   <p>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</p>  </div> </div>   <h3><strong>Per capita </strong>greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from?</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe>   <h5>Related article:</h5>    <p>You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local</p>  </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from.</p>   <p>In this chart we show how the <em>average person's</em> emissions would be distributed across the different sectors – in effect, this shows the average 'footprint', measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.</p>    <h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>   <ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul>  </div> </div>   <h2>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector</h2>   <h3><strong>Annual CO<sub>2</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector"></iframe> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions – this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases.</p>   <p>How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions? Where does our CO<sub>2</sub> come from?</p>   <p>This chart shows the distribution of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions across sectors.</p>   <p>The global breakdown for CO<sub>2</sub> is similar to that of total greenhouse gases – electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that <em>direct</em> agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from <a href="https://owid.cloud/meat-production">livestock</a>) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of <a href="https://owid.cloud/fertilizers">fertilizers</a>).</p>   <p>Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. </p> </div> </div>   <h3><strong>Per capita CO<sub>2</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>   <p>This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries.</p> </div> </div>   <h2>Methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector</h2>   <h3><strong>Annual CH<sub>4</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>The breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely.</p>   <p>The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. </p>   <p>We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions">comes from livestock</a> (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions.</p>   <p>Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. 'Fugitive emissions' represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example.</p>   <p>Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose.</p> </div> </div>   <h3><strong>Per capita CH<sub>4</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe>   <h5>Related article:</h5>    <p>The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane?</p>  </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>    <h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>   <ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul>   <p></p>  </div> </div>   <h2>Nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector</h2>   <h3><strong>Annual N<sub>2</sub></strong>O emissions by sector</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows.</p>   <p>Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N<sub>2</sub>O – this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops.</p>   <p>As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL">rapidly increased</a> over the past 50 years in particular, N<sub>2</sub>O emissions <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL">have also increased</a>. But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure.</p> </div> </div>   <h3><strong>Per capita <strong>N<sub>2</sub></strong>O:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>   <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left"> <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>   <p>As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture.</p> </div> </div>   <h2>Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions</h2>    <p>When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on ‘clean energy’ solutions – the deployment of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy">renewable</a> or nuclear energy; improvements in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies">energy efficiency</a>; or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority – 76% – of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref} IPCC, 2014: <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report</em></a><em>. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} <br><br>But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it’s a problem for which we don’t yet have viable technological solutions.<br><br>The visualization shown here – based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in <em>Science</em> – summarizes food’s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}<br><br>Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions.</p>   <p>There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization:</p>   <p><strong>Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions</strong>. <br>Livestock – animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production – contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock – mainly cattle – for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm ‘production’ emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories.</p>   <p><strong>Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.</strong> <br>21% of food’s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production – this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery.</p>   <p><strong>Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions.<br></strong>Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It’s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries.</p>   <p>This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8%<br>Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon ‘sinks’ into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. ‘Land use’ here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils).  </p>   <p><strong>Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions</strong>.<br>Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food’s total emissions – only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it’s essential for <em>reducing</em> emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A. (2013). The methodology of the FAO study: ‘Global food losses and food waste—extent, causes and prevention’ - <em>FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK</em>.{/ref}</p>   <p>Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources">energy production</a> where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy –  <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy">renewable</a> or nuclear energy –  are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can’t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable.  </p>   <figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-768x719.png" alt="" class="wp-image-28080"/></figure>   <h2>Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions</h2>    <p>Food production <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions">accounts for</a> around one-quarter – 26% – of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref} Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it’s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need. </p>   <p>What’s harder to make sense of is the amount of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions">greenhouse gas emissions</a> which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten.</p>   <p>Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they’re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). <a href="https://wrr-food.wri.org/">Creating a Sustainable Food Future—A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050</a>. <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref} To produce this food we need <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/land-use">land</a>, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress">water</a>, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/energy">energy</a>, and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers">fertilizer</a> inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost.</p>   <p>Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in <em>Science</em>, estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987">Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}</p>   <p>In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions.</p>   <p>The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter – 24% – of food’s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers.</p>   <p>This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it’s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting.</p>   <p>To put this in context: it’s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the <em>World Resource Institute</em>’s <a href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% – around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the <em>World Resources Institute </em><strong><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector">here</a></strong>.{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world’s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We’re comparing food waste with country emissions <em>without </em>accounting for the fact that these ‘food waste’ emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each.</p>   <p>This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country’s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor – India – would see a slight <em>drop</em> in emissions. And it’s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap.</p>   <p>If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>eq) – 2.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from consumer waste.<br><br>The <em>World Resource Institute</em>’s <a href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref}</p>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png" alt="" class="wp-image-30866"/></figure>

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                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Below we look at the breakdown of emissions \u2013 total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually \u2013 by sector.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "tonnes of greenhouse gases",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " each year ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "[measured in ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "carbon dioxide equivalents",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " (CO",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "2",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-subscript"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "eq)]",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their \u2018global warming potential\u2019 (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "; it basically measures the \u2018strength\u2019 of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref}\u00a0",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "can ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "and ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "can\u2019t",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one \u2013\u00a0it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Climate Watch",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " and the World Resources Institute.{ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "The World Resources Institute also provides a nice ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "visualization of these emissions",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": " as a Sankey flow diagram",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".{/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": ",",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-superscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5),\u00a0 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures.\u00a0",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "spanType": "span-newline"
                    },
                    {
                        "spanType": "span-newline"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "IPCC (2014): ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use\u00a0 ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "[this increases to one-quarter ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "when we consider",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": " the food system as a whole \u2013 including processing, packaging, transport and retail]",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "To know what\u2019s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC\u2019s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "World Resources Institute",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".{ref}IPCC, 2014: ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schl\u00f6mer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": ",",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-superscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ", ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "World Resources Institute",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".{/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy",
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                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 4,
                "parseErrors": []
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute\u00a0to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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                "type": "text",
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                        "text": "Even within the energy sector \u2013 which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions \u2013 there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we\u2019d still have emissions from shipping and aviation \u2013\u00a0 which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for \u2013 to deal with.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
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                "type": "text",
                "value": [
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                        "text": "To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.",
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                    }
                ],
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            },
            {
                "left": [
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "Let\u2019s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
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                    {
                        "text": [
                            {
                                "text": "Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 3,
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                        "text": [
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                                "text": "Energy use in industry: 24.2%",
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                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 4,
                        "parseErrors": []
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                        "value": [
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                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Iron and Steel (7.2%)",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": ": energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Food and tobacco (1%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
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                        "value": [
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                                "children": [
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                                        "text": "Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
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                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Paper & pulp (0.6%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
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                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
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                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Machinery (0.5%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
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                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Other industry (10.6%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
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                    {
                        "text": [
                            {
                                "text": "Transport: 16.2%",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 4,
                        "parseErrors": []
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                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment \u2013 this is included in the previous point \u2018Energy use in Industry\u2019.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
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                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Road transport (11.9%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "come from",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
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                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Aviation (1.9%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "come from",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": ".\u00a0",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "The International Council of Clean Transportation",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": ".{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Shipping (1.7%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Rail (0.4%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Pipeline (0.3%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere \u2013 however, this aspect is captured in the category \u2018Fugitive emissions from energy production\u2019.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "text": [
                            {
                                "text": "Energy use in buildings: 17.5%",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 4,
                        "parseErrors": []
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                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Residential buildings (10.9%):",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Commercial buildings (6.6%): ",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-bold"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": "energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "text": [
                            {
                                "text": "Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 4,
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
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                                "text": "Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.",
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                                        "text": "Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): ",
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                                "text": "fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring \u2013 the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction \u2013 producers often don\u2019t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn\u2019t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.",
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                                        "text": "Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):",
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                                "text": " fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.",
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                                "text": "Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.",
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                                        "text": "Cement (3%): ",
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                                "text": "carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO",
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                                "text": ") is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO",
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                                "text": " as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.",
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                                        "text": "Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): ",
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                                "text": "greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes \u2013 for example, CO",
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                                        "text": "2\u00a0 ",
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                                "text": "can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.",
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                                "text": "organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.",
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                                "text": "Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole \u2013 including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport \u2013 accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail ",
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                                "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions",
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                                                "text": "here",
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                                        "text": "Grassland (0.1%): ",
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                                "text": "when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for\u00a0 example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.",
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                                "text": "Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from",
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                                        "text": "Cropland (1.4%): ",
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                                "text": "depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO",
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                                "text": " can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.",
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                                        "text": "Deforestation (2.2%): ",
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                                "text": "net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as \u2018negative emissions\u2019 and deforestation as \u2018positive emissions\u2019. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.",
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                                        "text": "Crop burning (3.5%): ",
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                                "text": "the burning of agricultural residues \u2013 leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops \u2013 releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. ",
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                                        "text": "Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.",
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                                        "text": "Rice cultivation (1.3%):",
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                                "text": " flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called \u2018anaerobic digestion\u2019. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it\u2019s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization ",
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                                "url": "http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS",
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                                        "text": "estimates that",
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                                "text": " the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}",
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                                        "text": "Agricultural soils (4.1%):",
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                                "text": " Nitrous oxide \u2013 a strong greenhouse gas \u2013 is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products \u2013 including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).",
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                                        "text": "Livestock & manure (5.8%): ",
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                                "text": "animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019 \u2013 when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they ",
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                                "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane",
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                                        "text": "produce methane as a by-product",
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                            {
                                "text": ". This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to ",
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                                "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local",
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                                        "text": "reduce the emissions",
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                                "text": " of your diet.",
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                                "text": "Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems \u2018Livestock\u2019 emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only \u2013 they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.",
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                                        "text": "[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]",
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                                        "url": "https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx",
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                                                "text": "Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)",
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                        "text": "By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector",
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                                "text": "Annual",
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                        "text": " greenhouse gas emissions by sector",
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                                "text": "Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? ",
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                                "text": "This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. ",
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                                "text": "Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. ",
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                                "text": "But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change.",
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                                "children": [
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                                        "text": "How you can interact with this chart",
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                                "text": "On these charts you see the button ",
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                                        "text": "Change Country ",
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                                "text": "in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.",
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                                "text": "Per capita ",
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                        "text": "greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from?",
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                                "text": "Related article:",
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                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local",
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                        "title": "The breakdown of emissions from our diets",
                        "description": "You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local",
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                                "text": "Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from.",
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                                "text": "In this chart we show how the ",
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                                        "text": "average person's",
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                                "text": " emissions would be distributed across the different sectors \u2013 in effect, this shows the average 'footprint', measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.",
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                                        "text": "How you can interact with this chart",
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                                        "text": "On these charts you see the button ",
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                                                "text": "Change Country ",
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                                        "text": "in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.",
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                                        "text": "If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.",
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                        "text": "CO",
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                        "text": " emissions by sector",
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                        "text": " emissions by sector",
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                                "text": "The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases.",
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                                "text": "How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO",
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                                "text": ") emissions? Where does our CO",
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                                "text": "This chart shows the distribution of CO",
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                                "text": " emissions across sectors.",
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                                "text": "The global breakdown for CO",
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                                "text": " is similar to that of total greenhouse gases \u2013 electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that ",
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                                        "text": "direct",
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                                "text": " agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from ",
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                                        "text": "livestock",
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                                "text": ") and nitrous oxide (released from the application of ",
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                                        "text": "fertilizers",
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                                "text": ").",
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                                "text": "Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. ",
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                                "text": "Per capita CO",
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                                "text": ":",
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                        "text": " where do our emissions come from?",
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                                "text": "In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO",
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                                "text": " emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.",
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                                "text": "This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries.",
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                        "text": "Methane (CH",
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                        "text": ") emissions by sector",
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                                "text": "Annual CH",
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                        "text": " emissions by sector",
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                                "text": "The breakdown of CO",
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                                "text": " emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely.",
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                                "text": "The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. ",
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                                "text": " (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions.",
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                                "text": "Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. 'Fugitive emissions' represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example.",
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                                "text": "Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose.",
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                                "text": "Per capita CH",
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                        "text": " where do our emissions come from?",
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                                "text": "Related article:",
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                        "title": "The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods",
                        "description": "The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane?",
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                                "text": "In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH",
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                                "text": ") emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.",
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                                        "text": "How you can interact with this chart",
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                                        "text": "On these charts you see the button ",
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                                                "text": "Change Country ",
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                                        "text": "in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.",
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                                        "text": "have also increased",
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                                "text": ". But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure.",
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                        "text": "When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on \u2018clean energy\u2019 solutions \u2013 the deployment of ",
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                        "text": " or nuclear energy; improvements in ",
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                        "text": "; or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority \u2013 76% \u2013 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref}\u00a0IPCC, 2014: ",
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                                        "text": "Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report",
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                                "text": ". Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change",
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                        "text": " [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} ",
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                        "text": "But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it\u2019s a problem for which we don\u2019t yet have viable technological solutions.",
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                        "text": "The visualization shown here \u2013 based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in ",
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                                "text": "Science",
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                        "text": " \u2013 summarizes food\u2019s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). ",
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                        "url": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987",
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                                "text": "Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers",
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                        "text": ". ",
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                        "text": ", 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}",
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                        "text": "Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions.",
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization:",
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                ],
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                "value": [
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-bold"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".\u00a0",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "spanType": "span-newline"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "Livestock \u2013 animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production \u2013 contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock \u2013 mainly cattle \u2013 for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm \u2018production\u2019 emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories.",
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.",
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                        "text": "21% of food\u2019s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production \u2013 this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery.",
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                                "text": "Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions.",
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                        "text": "Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It\u2019s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries.",
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8%",
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                        "text": "Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon \u2018sinks\u2019 into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. \u2018Land use\u2019 here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils).\u00a0 ",
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                                "text": "Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions",
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                        "text": ".",
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                        "text": "Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food\u2019s total emissions \u2013 only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it\u2019s essential for ",
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "reducing",
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO",
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "2",
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                        "text": "eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A.\u00a0(2013).\u00a0The methodology of the FAO study: \u2018Global food losses and food waste\u2014extent, causes and prevention\u2019 - ",
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                    {
                        "children": [
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                                "text": "FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK",
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                        "text": ".{/ref}",
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                        "text": "Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of ",
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                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources",
                        "children": [
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                                "text": "energy production",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        "text": " where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy \u2013\u00a0 ",
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                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy",
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                                "text": "renewable",
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                    {
                        "text": " or nuclear energy \u2013\u00a0 are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can\u2019t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable.\u00a0 ",
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                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions",
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                        "text": "Food production ",
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                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "accounts for",
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                        ],
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                    {
                        "text": " around one-quarter \u2013 26% \u2013 of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}\u00a0Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        "spanType": "span-link"
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                    {
                        "text": ". ",
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "Science",
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                    {
                        "text": ", 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it\u2019s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need.\u00a0",
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                    }
                ],
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "What\u2019s harder to make sense of is the amount of ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions",
                        "children": [
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                                "text": "greenhouse gas emissions",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "text": " which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten.",
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                        "text": "Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they\u2019re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://wrr-food.wri.org/",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Creating a Sustainable Food Future\u2014A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "World Resources Institute",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".{/ref} To produce this food we need ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/land-use",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "land",
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
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                    {
                        "text": ", ",
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                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "water",
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                        "text": ", ",
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                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/energy",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "energy",
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ", and ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "fertilizer",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost.",
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                    }
                ],
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Science",
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                    {
                        "text": ", estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        "text": ". ",
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                        "text": ", 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}",
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                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions.",
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                        "text": "The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter \u2013 24% \u2013 of food\u2019s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers.",
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                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it\u2019s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting.",
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            {
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                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "To put this in context: it\u2019s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "World Resource Institute",
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "\u2019s ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "CAIT Climate Data Explorer",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% \u2013 around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "World Resources Institute ",
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "url": "https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "here",
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                    {
                        "text": ".{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world\u2019s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We\u2019re comparing food waste with country emissions ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "without ",
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                        ],
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                    {
                        "text": "accounting for the fact that these \u2018food waste\u2019 emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each.",
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                ],
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country\u2019s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor \u2013 India \u2013 would see a slight ",
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "drop",
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
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                    {
                        "text": " in emissions. And it\u2019s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap.",
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                ],
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                        "text": "If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO",
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                                "text": "2",
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                    {
                        "text": "eq) \u2013 2.1 GtCO",
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                                "text": "2",
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                        "text": "eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO",
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                                "text": "2",
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                    {
                        "text": "eq from consumer waste.",
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                    {
                        "text": "The ",
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                                "text": "World Resource Institute",
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                    {
                        "text": "\u2019s ",
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                    {
                        "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "CAIT Climate Data Explorer",
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                    {
                        "text": " reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO",
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                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
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                    {
                        "text": "eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
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                    {
                        "text": "eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO",
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
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                    {
                        "text": "eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref}",
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        ],
        "type": "article",
        "title": "Emissions by sector",
        "authors": [
            "Hannah Ritchie",
            "Max Roser"
        ],
        "excerpt": "How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?",
        "dateline": "June 10, 2020",
        "subtitle": "How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?",
        "sidebar-toc": false,
        "featured-image": "per-capita-ghg-sector.png"
    },
    "createdAt": "2020-06-10T16:59:03.000Z",
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    "updatedAt": "2022-09-07T10:28:09.000Z",
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    "publishedAt": "2020-06-10T15:59:03.000Z",
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2020-06-10 15:59:03

2024-02-16 14:22:40

1mb0_V9hfqoimPOFjhX1eVytNZpjiKcOcrUjZuUxbv2g

[
    "Hannah Ritchie",
    "Max Roser"
]

How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?

2020-06-10 16:59:03

2022-09-07 10:28:09

https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/per-capita-ghg-sector.png

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You can **[download](https://github.com/owid/co2-data)** our complete _Our World in Data_ CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database. Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. To effectively reduce emissions we need to know where they are coming from – which sectors contribute the most? How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies? Below we look at the breakdown of emissions – total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually – by sector. ## Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from? To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion [tonnes of greenhouse gases](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&xScale=linear&yScale=linear&stackMode=absolute&endpointsOnly=0&time=earliest..latest&country=~World&region=World&Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&Accounting%20=Production-based&Fuel%20=Total&Count%20=Per%20country&Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=) each year _[measured in [carbon dioxide equivalents](https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured) (CO2eq)]_.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO2 gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their ‘global warming potential’ (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO2; it basically measures the ‘strength’ of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref} To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions _can _and _can’t_ be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from. In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one – it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by [Climate Watch](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) and the World Resources Institute.{ref}_The World Resources Institute also provides a nice _[_visualization of these emissions_](https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector)_ as a Sankey flow diagram_.{/ref},{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures. IPCC (2014): [_Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/) [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use _[this increases to one-quarter _[_when we consider_](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions)_ the food system as a whole – including processing, packaging, transport and retail]_; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste. To know what’s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the _World Resources Institute_.{ref}IPCC, 2014: [_Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/) [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref},{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. & Pershing, J. (2005). [Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy](https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf), _World Resources Institute_.{/ref} #### Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient. Even within the energy sector – which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions – there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we’d still have emissions from shipping and aviation – which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for – to deal with. To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there. Let’s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one. ### Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2% #### Energy use in industry: 24.2% **Iron and Steel (7.2%)**: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel. **Chemical & petrochemical (3.6%): **energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc. **Food and tobacco (1%): **energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread). **Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: **Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions. **Paper & pulp (0.6%): **energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp. **Machinery (0.5%): **energy-related emissions from the production of machinery. **Other industry (10.6%): **energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing). #### Transport: 16.2% This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment – this is included in the previous point ‘Energy use in Industry’. **Road transport (11.9%): **emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions [come from](https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030) passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%. **Aviation (1.9%): **emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions [come from](https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf) passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., & Rutherford, D. (2019). [CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018](https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf). _The International Council of Clean Transportation_.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic. **Shipping (1.7%): **emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips. **Rail (0.4%): **emissions from passenger and freight rail travel. **Pipeline (0.3%): **fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere – however, this aspect is captured in the category ‘Fugitive emissions from energy production’. #### Energy use in buildings: 17.5% **Residential buildings (10.9%):** energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home. **Commercial buildings (6.6%): **energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops. #### Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%) Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage. #### Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8% **Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): **fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring – the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction – producers often don’t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn’t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so. **Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):** fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining. #### Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%) Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels. ### Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2% **Cement (3%): **carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO3) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO2 as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. **Chemicals & petrochemicals (2.2%): **greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes – for example, CO2 can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs – these related emissions are included in ‘Energy Use in Industry’. ### Waste: 3.2% **Wastewater (1.3%): **organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide. **Landfills (1.9%): **landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes. ### Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4% Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole – including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport – accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail [**here**](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions). **Grassland (0.1%): **when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.** **Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from** **grassland biomass and soils. **Cropland (1.4%): **depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO2 can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock. **Deforestation (2.2%): **net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as ‘negative emissions’ and deforestation as ‘positive emissions’. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils. **Crop burning (3.5%): **the burning of agricultural residues – leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops – releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. _Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops._ **Rice cultivation (1.3%):** flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called ‘anaerobic digestion’. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it’s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world’s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization [estimates that](http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS) the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref} **Agricultural soils (4.1%):** Nitrous oxide – a strong greenhouse gas – is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products – including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton). **Livestock & manure (5.8%): **animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ – when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they [produce methane as a by-product](https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane). This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to [reduce the emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local) of your diet. Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems ‘Livestock’ emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only – they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed. <Image filename="Emissions-by-sector-–-pie-charts.png" alt=""/> _[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]_ _[Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)](https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx)_ ## By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector ### **Annual** greenhouse gas emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector"/> Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change. #### **How you can interact with this chart** On these charts you see the button **Change Country **in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world. ### **Per capita **greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector"/> ##### Related article: ### The breakdown of emissions from our diets You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from. In this chart we show how the _average person's_ emissions would be distributed across the different sectors – in effect, this shows the average 'footprint', measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year. #### **How you can interact with this chart** * On these charts you see the button **Change Country **in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world. * If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time. ## CO2 emissions by sector ### **Annual CO2** emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector"/> The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions – this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases. How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions? Where does our CO2 come from? This chart shows the distribution of CO2 emissions across sectors. The global breakdown for CO2 is similar to that of total greenhouse gases – electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that _direct_ agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from [livestock](https://owid.cloud/meat-production)) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of [fertilizers](https://owid.cloud/fertilizers)). Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. ### **Per capita CO2:** where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector"/> In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO2 emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries. ## Methane (CH4) emissions by sector ### **Annual CH4** emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector"/> The breakdown of CO2 emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely. The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane [comes from livestock](https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions) (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions. Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. 'Fugitive emissions' represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example. Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose. ### **Per capita CH4:** where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector"/> ##### Related article: ### The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane? https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH4) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. #### **How you can interact with this chart** * On these charts you see the button **Change Country **in the bottom left corner – with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world. * If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time. ## Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by sector ### **Annual N2**O emissions by sector <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector"/> Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows. Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N2O – this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops. As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has [rapidly increased](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL) over the past 50 years in particular, N2O emissions [have also increased](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL). But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure. ### **Per capita **N2**O:** where do our emissions come from? <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector"/> In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year. As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture. ## Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on ‘clean energy’ solutions – the deployment of [renewable](https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy) or nuclear energy; improvements in [energy efficiency](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies); or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority – 76% – of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref} IPCC, 2014: [_Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report_](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/)_. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change_ [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it’s a problem for which we don’t yet have viable technological solutions. The visualization shown here – based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in _Science_ – summarizes food’s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). [Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987). _Science_, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions. There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization: **Livestock & fisheries account for 31% of food emissions**. Livestock – animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production – contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock – mainly cattle – for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as ‘enteric fermentation’). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm ‘production’ emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories. **Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.** 21% of food’s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production – this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery. **Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions. **Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It’s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries. This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8% Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon ‘sinks’ into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. ‘Land use’ here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils). **Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions**. Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food’s total emissions – only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it’s essential for _reducing_ emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO2eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A. (2013). The methodology of the FAO study: ‘Global food losses and food waste—extent, causes and prevention’ - _FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK_.{/ref} Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of [energy production](https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources) where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy – [renewable](https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy) or nuclear energy – are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can’t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable. <Image filename="How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food.png" alt=""/> ## Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions Food production [accounts for](https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions) around one-quarter – 26% – of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref} Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). [Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987). _Science_, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it’s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need. What’s harder to make sense of is the amount of [greenhouse gas emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions) which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten. Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they’re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). [Creating a Sustainable Food Future—A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050](https://wrr-food.wri.org/). _World Resources Institute_.{/ref} To produce this food we need [land](https://ourworldindata.org/land-use), [water](https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress), [energy](https://ourworldindata.org/energy), and [fertilizer](https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers) inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost. Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in _Science_, estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). [Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987). _Science_, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions. The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter – 24% – of food’s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers. This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it’s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting. To put this in context: it’s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the _World Resource Institute_’s [CAIT Climate Data Explorer](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% – around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the _World Resources Institute _**[here](https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector)**.{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world’s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We’re comparing food waste with country emissions _without _accounting for the fact that these ‘food waste’ emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each. This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country’s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor – India – would see a slight _drop_ in emissions. And it’s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap. If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) – 2.1 GtCO2eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO2eq from consumer waste. The _World Resource Institute_’s [CAIT Climate Data Explorer](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions) reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO2eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO2eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO2eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref} <Image filename="GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png" alt=""/>

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        "rendered": "\n<!-- formatting-options subnavId:co2 subnavCurrentId:by-sector -->\n\n\n\n<p>You can&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https://github.com/owid/co2-data\">download</a></strong>&nbsp;our complete <em>Our World in Data</em> CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"/>\n\n\n\n<p>Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>To effectively reduce emissions we need to know where they are coming from \u2013 which sectors contribute the most? How can we use this understanding to develop effective solutions and mitigation strategies?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we look at the breakdown of emissions \u2013 total greenhouse gases, plus carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide individually \u2013 by sector.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To prevent severe climate change we need to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The world emits around 50 billion <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=chart&amp;xScale=linear&amp;yScale=linear&amp;stackMode=absolute&amp;endpointsOnly=0&amp;time=earliest..latest&amp;country=~World&amp;region=World&amp;Gas%20=All%20GHGs%20(CO%E2%82%82eq)&amp;Accounting%20=Production-based&amp;Fuel%20=Total&amp;Count%20=Per%20country&amp;Relative%20to%20world%20total%20=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tonnes of greenhouse gases</a> each year <em>[measured in <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#how-are-greenhouse-gases-measured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carbon dioxide equivalents</a> (CO<sub>2</sub>eq)]</em>.{ref}Carbon dioxide-equivalents try to sum all of the warming impacts of the different greenhouse gases together in order to give a single measure of total greenhouse gas emissions. To convert non-CO<sub>2</sub> gases into their carbon dioxide-equivalents we multiply their mass (e.g. kilograms of methane emitted) by their \u2018global warming potential\u2019 (GWP). GWP measures the warming impacts of a gas compared to CO<sub>2</sub>; it basically measures the \u2018strength\u2019 of the greenhouse gas averaged over a chosen time horizon.{/ref}&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To figure out how we can most effectively reduce emissions and what emissions <em>can </em>and <em>can\u2019t</em> be eliminated with current technologies, we need to first understand where our emissions come from.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post I present only one chart, but it is an important one \u2013&nbsp;it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.{ref}While it would be ideal to have more timely data, this is the most recent data available at time of writing (September 2020).{/ref} This is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\">Climate Watch</a> and the World Resources Institute.{ref}<em>The World Resources Institute also provides a nice </em><a href=\"https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector\"><em>visualization of these emissions</em></a><em> as a Sankey flow diagram</em>.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}In its 5th Assessment Report (AR5),&nbsp; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided a similar breakdown of emissions by sector. However, this was based on data published in 2010. The World Resources Institute therefore provides an important update of these figures.&nbsp;<br><br>IPCC (2014): <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The overall picture you see from this diagram is that almost three-quarters of emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use&nbsp; <em>[this increases to one-quarter </em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\"><em>when we consider</em></a><em> the food system as a whole \u2013 including processing, packaging, transport and retail]</em>; and the remaining 8% from industry and waste.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To know what\u2019s included in each sector category, I provide a short description of each. These descriptions are based on explanations provided in the IPCC\u2019s Fifth Assessment Report AR5) and a methodology paper published by the <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{ref}IPCC, 2014: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em></a> [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schl\u00f6mer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.{/ref}<sup>,</sup>{ref}Baumert, K. A., Herzog, T. &amp; Pershing, J. (2005). <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/pdf/navigating_numbers.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy</a>, <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions come from many sectors: we need many solutions to decarbonize the economy</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It is clear from this breakdown that a range of sectors and processes contribute&nbsp;to global emissions. This means there is no single or simple solution to tackle climate change. Focusing on electricity, or transport, or food, or deforestation alone is insufficient.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even within the energy sector \u2013 which accounts for almost three-quarters of emissions \u2013 there is no simple fix. Even if we could fully decarbonize our electricity supply, we would also need to electrify all of our heating and road transport. And we\u2019d still have emissions from shipping and aviation \u2013&nbsp; which we do not yet have low-carbon technologies for \u2013 to deal with.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reach net-zero emissions we need innovations across many sectors. Single solutions will not get us there.</p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-right\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Let\u2019s walk through each of the sectors and sub-sectors in the pie chart, one-by-one.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Energy (electricity, heat and transport): 73.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in industry: 24.2%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Iron and Steel (7.2%)</strong>: energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of iron and steel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chemical &amp; petrochemical (3.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants, oil and gas extraction, etc.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Food and tobacco (1%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the manufacturing of tobacco products and food processing (the conversion of raw agricultural products into their final products, such as the conversion of wheat into bread).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Non-ferrous metals: 0.7%: </strong>Non-ferrous metals are metals which contain very little iron: this includes aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, titanium and zinc, and alloys such as brass. The manufacturing of these metals requires energy which results in emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paper &amp; pulp (0.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the conversion of wood into paper and pulp.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Machinery (0.5%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the production of machinery.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Other industry (10.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from manufacturing in other industries including mining and quarrying, construction, textiles, wood products, and transport equipment (such as car manufacturing).</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Transport: 16.2%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This includes a small amount of electricity (indirect emissions) as well as all direct emissions from burning fossil fuels to power transport activities. These figures do not include emissions from the manufacturing of motor vehicles or other transport equipment \u2013 this is included in the previous point \u2018Energy use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Road transport (11.9%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol and diesel from all forms of road transport which includes cars, trucks, lorries, motorcycles and buses. Sixty percent of road transport emissions <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/transport-sector-co2-emissions-by-mode-in-the-sustainable-development-scenario-2000-2030\" target=\"_blank\">come from</a> passenger travel (cars, motorcycles and buses); and the remaining forty percent from road freight (lorries and trucks). This means that, if we could electrify the whole road transport sector, and transition to a fully decarbonized electricity mix, we could feasibly reduce global emissions by 11.9%.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Aviation (1.9%): </strong>emissions from passenger travel and freight, and domestic and international aviation. 81% of aviation emissions <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">come from</a> passenger travel; and 19% from freight.{ref}Graver, B., Zhang, K., &amp; Rutherford, D. (2019). <a href=\"https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCT_CO2-commercl-aviation-2018_20190918.pdf\">CO2 emissions from commercial aviation, 2018</a>.&nbsp;<em>The International Council of Clean Transportation</em>.{/ref} From passenger aviation, 60% of emissions come from international travel, and 40% from domestic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shipping (1.7%): </strong>emissions from the burning of petrol or diesel on boats. This includes both passenger and freight maritime trips.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rail (0.4%): </strong>emissions from passenger and freight rail travel.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pipeline (0.3%): </strong>fuels and commodities (e.g. oil, gas, water or steam) often need to be transported (either within or between countries) via pipelines. This requires energy inputs, which results in emissions. Poorly constructed pipelines can also leak, leading to direct emissions of methane to the atmosphere \u2013 however, this aspect is captured in the category \u2018Fugitive emissions from energy production\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in buildings: 17.5%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Residential buildings (10.9%):</strong> energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, cooking etc. and heating at home.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Commercial buildings (6.6%): </strong>energy-related emissions from the generation of electricity for lighting, appliances, etc. and heating in commercial buildings such as offices, restaurants, and shops.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Unallocated fuel combustion (7.8%)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Energy-related emissions from the production of energy from other fuels including electricity and heat from biomass; on-site heat sources; combined heat and power (CHP); nuclear industry; and pumped hydroelectric storage.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Fugitive emissions from energy production: 5.8%</h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fugitive emissions from oil and gas (3.9%): </strong>fugitive emissions are the often-accidental leakage of methane to the atmosphere during oil and gas extraction and transportation, from damaged or poorly maintained pipes. This also includes flaring \u2013 the intentional burning of gas at oil facilities. Oil wells can release gases, including methane, during extraction \u2013 producers often don\u2019t have an existing network of pipelines to transport it, or it wouldn\u2019t make economic sense to provide the infrastructure needed to effectively capture and transport it. But under environmental regulations they need to deal with it somehow: intentionally burning it is often a cheap way to do so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fugitive emissions from coal (1.9%):</strong> fugitive emissions are the accidental leakage of methane during coal mining.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Energy use in agriculture and fishing (1.7%)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Energy-related emissions from the use of machinery in agriculture and fishing, such as fuel for farm machinery and fishing vessels.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Direct Industrial Processes: 5.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cement (3%): </strong>carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct of a chemical conversion process used in the production of clinker, a component of cement. In this reaction, limestone (CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is converted to lime (CaO), and produces CO<sub>2</sub> as a byproduct. Cement production also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chemicals &amp; petrochemicals (2.2%): </strong>greenhouse gases can be produced as a byproduct from chemical processes \u2013 for example, CO<sub>2&nbsp; </sub>can be emitted during the production of ammonia, which is used for purifying water supplies, cleaning products, and as a refrigerant, and used in the production of many materials, including plastic, fertilizers, pesticides, and textiles. Chemical and petrochemical manufacturing also produces emissions from energy inputs \u2013 these related emissions are included in \u2018Energy Use in Industry\u2019.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Waste: 3.2%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Wastewater (1.3%): </strong>organic matter and residues from animals, plants, humans and their waste products can collect in wastewater systems. When this organic matter decomposes it produces methane and nitrous oxide.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Landfills (1.9%): </strong>landfills are often low-oxygen environments. In these environments, organic matter is converted to methane when it decomposes.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use: 18.4%</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use directly accounts for 18.4% of greenhouse gas emissions. The food system as a whole \u2013 including refrigeration, food processing, packaging, and transport \u2013 accounts for around one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. We look at this in detail <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Grassland (0.1%): </strong>when grassland becomes degraded, these soils can lose carbon, converting to carbon dioxide in the process. Conversely, when grassland is restored (for&nbsp; example, from cropland), carbon can be sequestered.<strong> </strong>Emissions here therefore refer to the net balance of these carbon losses and gains from<strong> </strong>grassland biomass and soils.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cropland (1.4%): </strong>depending on the management practices used on croplands, carbon can be lost or sequestered into soils and biomass. This affects the balance of carbon dioxide emissions: CO<sub>2</sub> can be emitted when croplands are degraded; or sequestered when they are restored. The net change in carbon stocks is captured in emissions of carbon dioxide. This does not include grazing lands for livestock.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Deforestation (2.2%): </strong>net emissions of carbon dioxide from changes in forestry cover. This means reforestation is counted as \u2018negative emissions\u2019 and deforestation as \u2018positive emissions\u2019. Net forestry change is therefore the difference between forestry loss and gain. Emissions are based on lost carbon stores from forests and changes in carbon stores in forest soils.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Crop burning (3.5%): </strong>the burning of agricultural residues \u2013 leftover vegetation from crops such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, and other crops \u2013 releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. <em>Farmers often burn crop residues after harvest to prepare land for the resowing of crops.</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rice cultivation (1.3%):</strong> flooded paddy fields produce methane through a process called \u2018anaerobic digestion\u2019. Organic matter in the soil is converted to methane due to the low-oxygen environment of water-logged rice fields. 1.3% seems substantial, but it\u2019s important to put this into context: rice accounts for around one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply of calories, and is a staple crop for billions of people globally.{ref}The UN Food and Agriculture Organization <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS\" target=\"_blank\">estimates that</a> the average daily supply of calories from all foods was 2917 kilocalories in 2017. Rice accounted for 551 kilocalories [ 551 / 2917 * 100 = 19% of global calorie supply]. In China it supplied 26% of calories; and 30% in India.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Agricultural soils (4.1%):</strong> Nitrous oxide \u2013 a strong greenhouse gas \u2013 is produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are applied to soils. This includes emissions from agricultural soils for all agricultural products \u2013 including food for direct human consumption, animal feed, biofuels and other non-food crops (such as tobacco and cotton).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Livestock &amp; manure (5.8%): </strong>animals (mainly ruminants, such as cattle and sheep) produce greenhouse gases through a process called \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019 \u2013 when microbes in their digestive systems break down food, they <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane\" target=\"_blank\">produce methane as a by-product</a>. This means beef and lamb tend to have a high carbon footprint, and eating less is an effective way to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local\" target=\"_blank\">reduce the emissions</a> of your diet.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nitrous oxide and methane can be produced from the decomposition of animal manures under low oxygen conditions. This often occurs when large numbers of animals are managed in a confined area (such as dairy farms, beef feedlots, and swine and poultry farms), where manure is typically stored in large piles or disposed of in lagoons and other types of manure management systems \u2018Livestock\u2019 emissions here include direct emissions from livestock only \u2013 they do not consider impacts of land use change for pasture or animal feed.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1302\" height=\"1233\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36441\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts.png 1302w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-400x379.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-581x550.png 581w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-150x142.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Emissions-by-sector-\u2013-pie-charts-768x727.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[Clicking on this visualization will open it in higher-resolution]</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/09/Global-GHG-Emissions-by-sector-based-on-WRI-2020.xlsx\">Download the data used in this visualization (.xlsx)</a></em></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>By country: greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual</strong> greenhouse gas emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/ghg-emissions-by-sector\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Where do our greenhouse gas emissions come from? </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This chart shows the breakdown of total greenhouse gases (the sum of all greenhouse gases, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) by sector. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we see that electricity and heat production are the largest contributor to global emissions. This is followed by transport, manufacturing and construction (largely cement and similar materials), and agriculture. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>But this is not the same everywhere. If we look at the United States, for example, transport is a much larger contributor than the global average. In Brazil, the majority of emissions come from agriculture and land use change.</p>\n\n\n\t<block type=\"help\">\n\t\t<content>\n\n<h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</p>\n\n</content>\n\t</block></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita </strong>greenhouse gas emissions: where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-ghg-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<h5>Related article:</h5>\n\n\n    <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n        <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local</link-url>\n        <title>The breakdown of emissions from our diets</title>\n        <content>\n\n<p>You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local</p>\n\n</content>\n        <figure><img width=\"768\" height=\"690\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-768x690.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-768x690.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-400x359.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-612x550.png 612w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-150x135.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-1536x1380.png 1536w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-impact-of-food-by-life-cycle-stage-2048x1840.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n    </block></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Looking at the breakdown of greenhouse gases by sector on aggregate is essential for countries to understand where emissions reductions could have the largest impact. But it can often be unintuitive for individuals to see where there emissions are coming from.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this chart we show how the <em>average person&#8217;s</em> emissions would be distributed across the different sectors \u2013 in effect, this shows the average &#8216;footprint&#8217;, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.</p>\n\n\n\t<block type=\"help\">\n\t\t<content>\n\n<h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul>\n\n</content>\n\t</block></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual CO<sub>2</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-by-sector\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The above charts looked total greenhouse gas emissions \u2013 this included other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and smaller trace gases.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>How does this breakdown look if we focus only on carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions? Where does our CO<sub>2</sub> come from?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This chart shows the distribution of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions across sectors.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The global breakdown for CO<sub>2</sub> is similar to that of total greenhouse gases \u2013 electricity and heat production dominates, followed by transport, and manufacturing and construction. One key difference is that <em>direct</em> agricultural emissions (if we exclude land use change and forestry) are not shown; most direct emissions from agriculture result from methane (production from <a href=\"https://owid.cloud/meat-production\">livestock</a>) and nitrous oxide (released from the application of <a href=\"https://owid.cloud/fertilizers\">fertilizers</a>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like total greenhouse gas emissions, this breakdown varies between countries. </p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita CO<sub>2</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-co2-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This allows us to better understand our domestic carbon footprint. However, it does not correct for the goods and services we buy from other countries.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual CH<sub>4</sub></strong> emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/methane-emissions-by-sector\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The breakdown of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions mirrors total greenhouse gas emissions closely.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The distribution of methane emissions across sectors is notably different. This chart shows methane emissions by sector, measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>We see that, globally, agriculture is the largest contributor to methane emissions. Most of this methane <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#food-production-is-responsible-for-one-quarter-of-the-world-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">comes from livestock</a> (they produce methane through their digestive processes, in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Rice production is also a large contributor to methane emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from agriculture, fugitive emissions produce a significant amount of methane. &#8216;Fugitive emissions&#8217; represent the unintentional leaks of gas from processes such as fracking, and more traditional oil and gas extraction and transportation. This can happen when gas is transported through poorly maintained pipes, for example.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Waste is third largest contributor. Methane is produced in landfills when organic materials decompose.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita CH<sub>4</sub>:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-methane-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n\n\n\n<h5>Related article:</h5>\n\n\n    <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n        <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane</link-url>\n        <title>The role of methane in the carbon footprint of foods</title>\n        <content>\n\n<p>The carbon footprint of foods: are differences explained by the impacts of methane?</p>\n\n</content>\n        <figure><img width=\"768\" height=\"742\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-768x742.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-768x742.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-400x386.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-570x550.png 570w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-150x145.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-1536x1483.png 1536w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-emissions-by-food-type-with-and-without-CH4-2048x1978.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n    </block></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>\n\n\n\t<block type=\"help\">\n\t\t<content>\n\n<h4><strong>How you can interact with this chart</strong></h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>On these charts you see the button <strong>Change Country </strong>in the bottom left corner \u2013 with this option you can switch the chart to any other country in the world.</li><li>If you drag the blue time-slider you will see the bar chart transform into a line chart, and show the change over time.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n\n</content>\n\t</block></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector</h2>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Annual N<sub>2</sub></strong>O emissions by sector</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions-by-sector\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Nearly all of our nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions come from agriculture, as this chart shows.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nitrous oxide is produced by microbes in nearly all soils. But the application of nitrogen fertilizers makes much more nitrogen readily available for microbes to convert to N<sub>2</sub>O \u2013 this is because not all of the applied nutrients are taken up by crops.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the application of nitrogen fertilizers has <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-nutrient?country=~OWID_WRL\">rapidly increased</a> over the past 50 years in particular, N<sub>2</sub>O emissions <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-emissions?tab=chart&amp;country=~OWID_WRL\">have also increased</a>. But nitrous oxide is not only produced when synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is applied; the same processes occur when we use organic fertilizers such as animal manure.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3><strong>Per capita <strong>N<sub>2</sub></strong>O:</strong> where do our emissions come from?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-sticky-left\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-nitrous-oxide-sector\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>In this chart we show the per capita breakdown of nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions by sector. This is measured in tonnes per person per year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As expected, nearly all of our nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h2>Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to tackling climate change, the focus tends to be on \u2018clean energy\u2019 solutions \u2013 the deployment of <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy\">renewable</a> or nuclear energy; improvements in <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources#energy-intensity-of-economies\">energy efficiency</a>; or transition to low-carbon transport. Indeed, energy, whether in the form of electricity, heat, transport or industrial processes, account for the majority \u2013 76% \u2013 of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.{ref}&nbsp;IPCC, 2014: <a href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/\"><em>Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report</em></a><em>. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</em> [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151 pp.{/ref} <br><br>But the global food system, which encompasses production, and post-farm process such as processing, and distribution is also a key contributor to emissions. And it\u2019s a problem for which we don\u2019t yet have viable technological solutions.<br><br>The visualization shown here \u2013 based on data from the meta-analysis by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), published in <em>Science</em> \u2013 summarizes food\u2019s share of total emissions and breaks it down by source.{ref}Poore, J., &amp; Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href=\"https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987\">Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}<br><br>Food is responsible for approximately 26% of global GHG emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are four key elements to consider when trying to quantify food GHG emissions. These are shown by category in the visualization:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Livestock &amp; fisheries account for 31% of food emissions</strong>.&nbsp;<br>Livestock \u2013 animals raised for meat, dairy, eggs and seafood production \u2013 contribute to emissions in several ways. Ruminant livestock \u2013 mainly cattle \u2013 for example, produce methane through their digestive processes (in a process known as \u2018enteric fermentation\u2019). Manure management, pasture management, and fuel consumption from fishing vessels also fall into this category. This 31% of emissions relates to on-farm \u2018production\u2019 emissions only: it does not include land use change or supply chain emissions from the production of crops for animal feed: these figures are included separately in the other categories.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Crop production accounts for 27% of food emissions.</strong>&nbsp;<br>21% of food\u2019s emissions comes from crop production for direct human consumption, and 6% comes from the production of animal feed. They are the direct emissions which result from agricultural production \u2013 this includes elements such as the release of nitrous oxide from the application of fertilizers and manure; methane emissions from rice production; and carbon dioxide from agricultural machinery.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Land use accounts for 24% of food emissions.<br></strong>Twice as many emissions result from land use for livestock (16%) as for crops for human consumption (8%).{ref}6% of land use change results from conversion from food for human consumption, and 12% for the production of animal feed. Savannah burning (2% of food emissions) is largely burning of bush land in Africa to allow animal grazing. Emissions from cultivated organic soils (4%) are split between human food and animal feed. This is where very high carbon soils are used for cropland, and this releases carbon. It\u2019s a major issue in palm plantations and also in some Northern Hemisphere countries.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means food for direct human consumption is equal to 6% (land use change) + 2% cultivated soils = 8%<br>Livestock is equal to 12% (land use change) + 2% savannah burning + 2% cultivated soils = 16%.{/ref}Agricultural expansion results in the conversion of forests, grasslands and other carbon \u2018sinks\u2019 into cropland or pasture resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. \u2018Land use\u2019 here is the sum of land use change, savannah burning and organic soil cultivation (plowing and overturning of soils).&nbsp; </p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Supply chains account for 18% of food emissions</strong>.<br>Food processing (converting produce from the farm into final products), transport, packaging and retail all require energy and resource inputs. Many assume that eating local is key to a low-carbon diet, however, transport emissions are often a very small percentage of food\u2019s total emissions \u2013 only 6% globally. Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high, at 18%, it\u2019s essential for <em>reducing</em> emissions by preventing food waste. Food waste emissions are large: one-quarter of emissions (3.3 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>eq) from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. Durable packaging, refrigeration and food processing can all help to prevent food waste. For example, wastage of processed fruit and vegetables is ~14% lower than fresh, and 8% lower for seafood.{ref}Gustavsson, G., Cederberg, C., Sonesson, U., Emanuelsson, A.\u00a0(2013).\u00a0The methodology of the FAO study: \u2018Global food losses and food waste\u2014extent, causes and prevention\u2019 &#8211; <em>FAO, 2011. Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) report 857, SIK</em>.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reducing emissions from food production will be one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Unlike many aspects of <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources\">energy production</a> where viable opportunities for upscaling low-carbon energy \u2013&nbsp; <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy\">renewable</a> or nuclear energy \u2013&nbsp; are available, the ways in which we can decarbonize agriculture are less clear. We need inputs such as fertilizers to meet growing food demands, and we can\u2019t stop cattle from producing methane. We will need a menu of solutions: changes to diets; food waste reduction; improvements in agricultural efficiency; and technologies that make low-carbon food alternatives scalable and affordable.&nbsp; </p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"719\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-768x719.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28080\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-768x719.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-400x374.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-588x550.png 588w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-150x140.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food-1536x1438.png 1536w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2019/11/How-much-of-GHGs-come-from-food.png 1624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2>Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Food production <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions\">accounts for</a> around one-quarter \u2013 26% \u2013 of global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}&nbsp;Poore, J., &amp; Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href=\"https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987\">Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref} This is a lot, but it\u2019s slightly easier to digest when we remind ourselves that food is a basic human need.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s harder to make sense of is the amount of <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">greenhouse gas emissions</a> which are caused in the production of food that is never eaten.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around one-quarter of the calories the world produces are thrown away; they\u2019re spoiled or spilled in supply chains; or are wasted by retailers, restaurants and consumers.{ref}Searchinger, T. et al. (2018). <a href=\"https://wrr-food.wri.org/\">Creating a Sustainable Food Future\u2014A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050</a>. <em>World Resources Institute</em>.{/ref} To produce this food we need <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/land-use\">land</a>, <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress\">water</a>, <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/energy\">energy</a>, and <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers\">fertilizer</a> inputs. It all comes at an environmental cost.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018), in their large meta-analysis of global food systems, published in <em>Science</em>, estimated how much of our greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food.{ref}Poore, J., &amp; Nemecek, T. (2018). <a href=\"https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987\">Reducing food\u2019s environmental impacts through producers and consumers</a>. <em>Science</em>, 360(6392), 987-992.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the visualization here I show the emissions from wasted food in the context of global greenhouse gas emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) found that almost one-quarter \u2013 24% \u2013 of food\u2019s emissions come from food that is lost in supply chains or wasted by consumers. Almost two-thirds of this (15% of food emissions) comes from losses in the supply chain which result from poor storage and handling techniques; lack of refrigeration; and spoilage in transport and processing. The other 9% comes from food thrown away by retailers and consumers.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that food wastage is responsible for around 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.{ref}Food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and food waste is responsible for 24% of that figure. Therefore food waste as a share of global emissions is [24% * 26% = 6%].{/ref} In fact, it\u2019s likely to be slightly higher since the analysis from Poore and Nemecek (2018) does not include food losses on the farm during production and harvesting.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>To put this in context: it\u2019s around three times the global emissions from aviation.{ref}Latest data from the <em>World Resource Institute</em>\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that aviation accounts for 1.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food losses and waste accounts for around 6% \u2013 around three times the share from aviation. You can explore emissions by sector from the <em>World Resources Institute </em><strong><a href=\"https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country-sector\">here</a></strong>.{/ref} Or, if we were to put it in the context of national emissions, it would be the world\u2019s third largest emitter.{ref}This comparison of food waste and countries is now common, and sometimes criticised for the fact that it double-counts emissions.We\u2019re comparing food waste with country emissions <em>without </em>accounting for the fact that these \u2018food waste\u2019 emissions are also included in national emissions figures. To make this accurate, the emissions of each country should be slightly lower than their reported values because we should remove the emissions from food waste for each.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a valid criticism. However, even if we were to remove food waste emissions from each country\u2019s total, this ranking would remain the same. Food waste would not fall down the rankings since its 4th placed competitor \u2013 India \u2013 would see a slight <em>drop</em> in emissions. And it\u2019s not possible that it would overtake the United States or China; the amount of emissions therefore allocated to food waste would be much smaller than the current gap.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we accounted for this double-counting, the rankings would stay the same.{/ref} Only China (21%) and the United States (13%) emitted more.{ref}The food system and losses data in the study by Poore and Nemecek (2018) relates to the year 2010. Emissions from food losses and waste were 3.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>eq) \u2013 2.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from supply chain losses, and 1.2 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq from consumer waste.<br><br>The <em>World Resource Institute</em>\u2019s <a href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ghg-emissions\">CAIT Climate Data Explorer</a> reports that in 2010, the top three emitters were China (9.8 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 21%); the USA (6.1 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 13%) and India (2.5 GtCO<sub>2</sub>eq; 5.3%). Food waste would therefore lie between the USA and India.{/ref}</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1416\" height=\"617\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30866\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek.png 1416w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-400x174.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-800x349.png 800w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-150x65.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/03/GHG-Emissions-from-Food-Waste-Poore-Nemecek-768x335.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1416px) 100vw, 1416px\" /></figure>\n",
        "protected": false
    },
    "excerpt": {
        "rendered": "How much of CO2 emissions come from electricity, transport, or land use? What activities do our greenhouse gases comes from?",
        "protected": false
    },
    "date_gmt": "2020-06-10T15:59:03",
    "modified": "2022-09-07T11:28:09",
    "template": "",
    "categories": [],
    "menu_order": 131,
    "ping_status": "closed",
    "authors_name": [
        "Hannah Ritchie",
        "Max Roser"
    ],
    "modified_gmt": "2022-09-07T10:28:09",
    "comment_status": "closed",
    "featured_media": 35876,
    "featured_media_paths": {
        "thumbnail": "/app/uploads/2020/08/per-capita-ghg-sector-150x106.png",
        "medium_large": "/app/uploads/2020/08/per-capita-ghg-sector-768x542.png"
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