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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
48643	CO₂ emissions dataset: Our sources and methods	co2-dataset-sources	post	publish	<!-- wp:columns --> <div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on <em>Our World in Data</em>. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You can find our Complete CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our <a href="https://github.com/owid/co2-data">GitHub repository</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You can explore all of this data in our <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2">CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Data Explorer</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp-block-tombstone 48654 --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions: our data sources</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Territorial annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our main metric – annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions – is sourced from the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/">Global Carbon Project</a>. This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Andrew and Peters provide a <a href="https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234">clear and detailed methodology</a> on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users):</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"How this dataset is constructed","linkUrl":"https://zenodo.org/records/10065794","className":"is-style-thin"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:owid/prominent-link --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, extending back to the year 1750. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We present our data for three key metrics:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>'Fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It <em>does not</em> include emissions from land use change.</li><li>Land use change emissions.</li><li>The combined total of land use change and fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The main <a href="https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget">Global Carbon Project dataset</a> provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, <a href="https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234">a long-term dataset</a> from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It also provides per capita estimates – we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Full citation: </strong>Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landschützer, P., Le Quéré, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., Gürses, Ö., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarníková, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., Körtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lefèvre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., Rödenbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., Séférian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023</a>, 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Consumption-based annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our data on annual consumption-based CO<sub>2 </sub>emissions is also sourced from the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/">Global Carbon Project</a>. The data is available <a href="https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget">here</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It provides estimates for some – but not all – countries from 1990 onwards <em>(see our FAQ on this below)</em>. This is based on the methodology laid out by <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012">Peters et al. (2012)</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Consumption-based emissions data <em>does not</em> include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production – are included.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO<sub>2</sub> molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from <a href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions">Climate Watch</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO₂ gases. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large <em>negative</em> emissions from land use change <em>(see our FAQ on this below)</em>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Derived metrics from this dataset</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2">CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Data Explorer</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources">here</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources">here</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate this globally and for every country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Share of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region’s emissions by the global emissions in any given year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per unit of primary energy</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CO<sub>2</sub><strong> </strong>emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the <a href="https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review">Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy</a>. However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data">international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CO<sub>2</sub><strong> </strong>emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s economy is (hence why it is often called the ‘carbon intensity of economies’).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate this by dividing a country or region’s annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The source for GDP data is the <a href="https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020">Maddison Project database</a>. We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us">here</a>. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Full citation: </strong>Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), “Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update”.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Emissions embedded in trade</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate this as the difference between a country’s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the <em>net</em> trade of emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net <em>importers</em> of emissions have positive values. Net <em>exporters</em> have negative values.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This metric is shown <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade">here</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We calculate this by taking the metric described above – net emissions embedded in trade – and dividing it by a country’s territorial (domestic) emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This metric is shown <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade">here</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Common FAQs about this emissions data</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>How often is this data updated?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually – typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO<sub>2</sub> emissions?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Unlike atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> <em>concentrations</em> which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our <em>emissions</em> of CO<sub>2</sub> from energy production and industry are not measured directly.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Calculating the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned</li><li>The carbon content of this fuel</li><li>How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO<sub>2</sub> produced from a given fuel:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:quote --> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><em>CO<sub>2</sub> (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised</em></p></blockquote> <!-- /wp:quote --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy – coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels – for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/">compared to</a> bituminous coal).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:quote --> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p><em>Consumption = Production – Exports + Imports + Change in stocks</em></p></blockquote> <!-- /wp:quote --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (<em>see our </em><a href="http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy"><em>Energy Data Explorer</em></a><em>, for example</em>).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption – and derived CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Are emissions from land use change included?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2022 update – for the first time – includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In <a href="https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map">this chart</a> we show the project’s assessment of the data quality for each country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO<sub>2</sub> emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping <em>are</em> included in each country’s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping <em>are not</em> included in any country or region’s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying">related article</a><strong> </strong>we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They are, however, included in the global total. You also <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region">find it here</a> as a separate category.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We report CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in two ways:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>The standard reported metric is <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita">territorial CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a>. This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It <em>does not</em> adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of <em>where the CO<sub>2</sub> was emitted</em>. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China.</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>We also provide <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita">consumption-based CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a> as a second metric. This <em>does</em> adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK.</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO</strong><strong><sub>2</sub></strong><strong> emissions that are being used.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For this same reason – insufficient high-resolution trade data – it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>You will notice in our charts which show the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source">breakdown of emissions by fuel type</a> (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This category captures the <em>direct</em> CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from the industrial process used in cement production. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cement has a binding agent called ‘clinker’. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO<sub>2 </sub>as a by-product. So, we get:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:quote --> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>CaCO<sub>3</sub> + heat —> CaO + CO<sub>2</sub></p></blockquote> <!-- /wp:quote --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement’s <em>total</em> emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The <em>indirect</em> emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the ‘cement’ category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>Why are total greenhouse gas emissions <em>lower</em> than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels for some countries?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For some countries, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita">total greenhouse gas emissions</a> can be <em>lower</em> than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be 'negative', if a country sequesters a lot of CO<sub>2</sub> through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions – significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Explore this data in our Data Explorer</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"CO₂ Emissions Data Explorer","linkUrl":"ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2","mediaId":35909,"mediaUrl":"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page.png","mediaAlt":"","className":"is-style-thin"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->	{ "id": "wp-48643", "slug": "co2-dataset-sources", "content": { "toc": [], "body": [ { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Our carbon dioxide (CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Our World in Data", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ". It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "You can find our Complete CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://github.com/owid/co2-data", "children": [ { "text": "GitHub repository", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "You can explore all of this data in our ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2", "children": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " Emissions Data Explorer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions: our data sources", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Territorial annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Our main metric \u2013 annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions \u2013 is sourced from the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/", "children": [ { "text": "Global Carbon Project", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Andrew and Peters provide a ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234", "children": [ { "text": "clear and detailed methodology", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users):", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "https://zenodo.org/records/10065794", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "How this dataset is constructed", "description": "", "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions, extending back to the year 1750.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We present our data for three key metrics:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "'Fossil CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "does not", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " include emissions from land use change.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Land use change emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The combined total of land use change and fossil CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The main ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget", "children": [ { "text": "Global Carbon Project dataset", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234", "children": [ { "text": "a long-term dataset", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It also provides per capita estimates \u2013 we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Full citation: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landsch\u00fctzer, P., Le Qu\u00e9r\u00e9, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., G\u00fcrses, \u00d6., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarn\u00edkov\u00e1, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., K\u00f6rtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lef\u00e8vre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., R\u00f6denbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., S\u00e9f\u00e9rian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023", "children": [ { "text": "https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ", 2023.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Consumption-based annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Our data on annual consumption-based CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "emissions is also sourced from the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/", "children": [ { "text": "Global Carbon Project", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". The data is available ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It provides estimates for some \u2013 but not all \u2013 countries from 1990 onwards ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "(see our FAQ on this below)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ". This is based on the methodology laid out by ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012", "children": [ { "text": "Peters et al. (2012)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Consumption-based emissions data ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "does not", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production \u2013 are included.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ", we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions", "children": [ { "text": "Climate Watch", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO\u2082 gases. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "negative", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " emissions from land use change ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "(see our FAQ on this below)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Derived metrics from this dataset", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2", "children": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " Emissions Data Explorer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions per capita", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The source for the annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Cumulative CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate cumulative CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate this globally and for every country.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Share of global CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region\u2019s emissions by the global emissions in any given year.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "[1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions per unit of primary energy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The source for the annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review", "children": [ { "text": "Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data", "children": [ { "text": "international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s economy is (hence why it is often called the \u2018carbon intensity of economies\u2019).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate this by dividing a country or region\u2019s annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The source for the annual CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The source for GDP data is the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020", "children": [ { "text": "Maddison Project database", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Full citation:\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), \u201cMaddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update\u201d.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Emissions embedded in trade", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate this as the difference between a country\u2019s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "net", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " trade of emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "importers", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " of emissions have positive values. Net ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "exporters", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " have negative values.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This metric is shown ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We calculate this by taking the metric described above \u2013 net emissions embedded in trade \u2013 and dividing it by a country\u2019s territorial (domestic) emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This metric is shown ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade", "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Common FAQs about this emissions data", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "How often is this data updated?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually \u2013 typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Unlike atmospheric CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "children": [ { "text": "concentrations", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " from energy production and industry are not measured directly.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Calculating the amount of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "numbered-list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The carbon content of this fuel", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " produced from a given fuel:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "blockquote", "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy \u2013 coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels \u2013 for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/", "children": [ { "text": "compared to", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " bituminous coal).", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Consumption = Production \u2013 Exports + Imports + Change in stocks", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "blockquote", "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "see our ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "url": "http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Energy Data Explorer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "children": [ { "text": ", for example", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ").", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption \u2013 and derived CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Are emissions from land use change included?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The 2022 update \u2013 for the first time \u2013 includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map", "children": [ { "text": "this chart", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " we show the project\u2019s assessment of the data quality for each country.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "are", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " included in each country\u2019s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "are not", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " included in any country or region\u2019s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying", "children": [ { "text": "related article", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "children": [ { "text": " ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "They are, however, included in the global total. You also ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region", "children": [ { "text": "find it here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " as a separate category.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We report CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions in two ways:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The standard reported metric is ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita", "children": [ { "text": "territorial CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "does not", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "where the CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " was emitted", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ". For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We also provide ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita", "children": [ { "text": "consumption-based CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " as a second metric. This ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "does", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "children": [ { "text": " emissions that are being used.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For this same reason \u2013 insufficient high-resolution trade data \u2013 it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "You will notice in our charts which show the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source", "children": [ { "text": "breakdown of emissions by fuel type", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This category captures the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "direct", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions from the industrial process used in cement production.\u00a0", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Cement has a binding agent called \u2018clinker\u2019. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "3", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "as a by-product.\u00a0So, we get:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "CaCO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "3", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " + heat \u2014> CaO + CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "blockquote", "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement\u2019s ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "total", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "indirect", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the \u2018cement\u2019 category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Why are total greenhouse gas emissions ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "lower", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " than CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions from fossil fuels for some countries?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "For some countries, ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita", "children": [ { "text": "total greenhouse gas emissions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " can be ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "lower", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be 'negative', if a country sequesters a lot of CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions \u2013 significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Explore this data in our Data Explorer", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "CO\u2082 Emissions Data Explorer", "description": "", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "article", "title": "CO\u2082 emissions dataset: Our sources and methods", "authors": [ "Hannah Ritchie" ], "excerpt": "How do we construct our global data on CO\u2082 emissions?", "dateline": "February 9, 2022", "subtitle": "How do we construct our global data on CO\u2082 emissions?", "sidebar-toc": false, "featured-image": "CO2-Landing-page.png" }, "createdAt": "2022-02-09T17:35:52.000Z", "published": false, "updatedAt": "2023-11-13T14:42:17.000Z", "revisionId": null, "publishedAt": "2022-02-09T17:44:38.000Z", "relatedCharts": [], "publicationContext": "listed" }	{ "errors": [ { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag quote" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag quote" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" }, { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag quote" } ], "numBlocks": 108, "numErrors": 7, "wpTagCounts": { "html": 1, "list": 4, "quote": 3, "column": 2, "columns": 1, "heading": 23, "paragraph": 81, "owid/prominent-link": 2 }, "htmlTagCounts": { "p": 84, "h3": 4, "h4": 19, "ol": 1, "ul": 3, "div": 3, "iframe": 1, "blockquote": 3 } }	2022-02-09 17:44:38	2024-03-03 20:18:28	1mjpMMVRTmWw6ZzzNtezvNjSyGYBiKmHE6i1ntED55jY	[ "Hannah Ritchie" ]	How do we construct our global data on CO₂ emissions?	2022-02-09 17:35:52	2023-11-13 14:42:17	https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page.png	{}	Our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on _Our World in Data_. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change. Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data. You can find our Complete CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our [GitHub repository](https://github.com/owid/co2-data). You can explore all of this data in our [CO2 Emissions Data Explorer](http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2). <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL"/> ## CO2 emissions: our data sources Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources. ### Territorial annual CO2 emissions Our main metric – annual CO2 emissions – is sourced from the [Global Carbon Project](https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/). This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below. Andrew and Peters provide a [clear and detailed methodology](https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234) on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users): ### How this dataset is constructed https://zenodo.org/records/10065794 The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO2 emissions, extending back to the year 1750. We present our data for three key metrics: * 'Fossil CO2 emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It _does not_ include emissions from land use change. * Land use change emissions. * The combined total of land use change and fossil CO2 emissions. The main [Global Carbon Project dataset](https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget) provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, [a long-term dataset](https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234) from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on. It also provides per capita estimates – we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied. The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO2 emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others. Full citation: Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landschützer, P., Le Quéré, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., Gürses, Ö., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarníková, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., Körtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lefèvre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., Rödenbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., Séférian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, [https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023](https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023), 2023. ### Consumption-based annual CO2 emissions Our data on annual consumption-based CO2 emissions is also sourced from the [Global Carbon Project](https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/). The data is available [here](https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget). It provides estimates for some – but not all – countries from 1990 onwards _(see our FAQ on this below)_. This is based on the methodology laid out by [Peters et al. (2012)](https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012). Consumption-based emissions data _does not_ include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production – are included. The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO2, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO2 molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom. ### Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from [Climate Watch](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions). It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO₂ gases. Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large _negative_ emissions from land use change _(see our FAQ on this below)_. ## Derived metrics from this dataset At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO2 emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our [CO2 Emissions Data Explorer](http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2). Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used. ### CO2 emissions per capita CO2 emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region. It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population. The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed [here](https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources). ### Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region. It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population. The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above. The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed [here](https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources). ### Cumulative CO2 emissions We calculate cumulative CO2 emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards. For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755. We calculate this globally and for every country. ### Share of global CO2 emissions We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region’s emissions by the global emissions in any given year. For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for: [1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions. ### CO2 emissions per unit of primary energy CO2 emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less. We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption. The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the [Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy](https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review). However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the [international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)](https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data). ### CO2 emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies) CO2 emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s economy is (hence why it is often called the ‘carbon intensity of economies’). We calculate this by dividing a country or region’s annual CO2 emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP). The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. The source for GDP data is the [Maddison Project database](https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020). We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data [here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us). GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries. Full citation: Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), “Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update”. ### Emissions embedded in trade We calculate this as the difference between a country’s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the _net_ trade of emissions. It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net _importers_ of emissions have positive values. Net _exporters_ have negative values. This metric is shown [here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade). ### Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions We calculate this by taking the metric described above – net emissions embedded in trade – and dividing it by a country’s territorial (domestic) emissions. Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter. This metric is shown [here](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade). ## Common FAQs about this emissions data ### How often is this data updated? The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually – typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release. ### How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO2 emissions? Unlike atmospheric CO2_concentrations_ which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our _emissions_ of CO2 from energy production and industry are not measured directly. Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce. Calculating the amount of CO2 emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things: 0. How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned 1. The carbon content of this fuel 2. How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO2 produced from a given fuel: -- undefined Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy – coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels – for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content [compared to](https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/) bituminous coal). For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as: -- undefined For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (_see our _[_Energy Data Explorer_](http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy)_, for example_). Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption – and derived CO2 emissions. ### Are emissions from land use change included? Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals. The 2022 update – for the first time – includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750. The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In [this chart](https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map) we show the project’s assessment of the data quality for each country. Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO2 emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. ### Are emissions from aviation and shipping included? Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping _are_ included in each country’s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping _are not_ included in any country or region’s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our [related article](https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying) we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation. They are, however, included in the global total. You also [find it here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region) as a separate category. ### Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods? We report CO2 emissions in two ways: * The standard reported metric is [territorial CO2 emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita). This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It _does not_ adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of _where the CO2 was emitted_. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China. * We also provide [consumption-based CO2 emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita) as a second metric. This _does_ adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK. Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO2 emissions that are being used. ### Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries? To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO2 emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations. For this same reason – insufficient high-resolution trade data – it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included. Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020. ### Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category? You will notice in our charts which show the [breakdown of emissions by fuel type](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source) (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category. This category captures the _direct_ CO2 emissions from the industrial process used in cement production. Cement has a binding agent called ‘clinker’. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO3) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO2 as a by-product. So, we get: -- undefined These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement’s _total_ emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset. The _indirect_ emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the ‘cement’ category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process. ### Why are total greenhouse gas emissions _lower_ than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels for some countries? For some countries, [total greenhouse gas emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita) can be _lower_ than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative. This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be 'negative', if a country sequesters a lot of CO2 through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative. Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions – significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels. ## Explore this data in our Data Explorer ### CO₂ Emissions Data Explorer ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2	{ "id": 48643, "date": "2022-02-09T17:44:38", "guid": { "rendered": "https://owid.cloud/?p=48643" }, "link": "https://owid.cloud/co2-dataset-sources", "meta": { "owid_publication_context_meta_field": [] }, "slug": "co2-dataset-sources", "tags": [], "type": "post", "title": { "rendered": "CO\u2082 emissions dataset: Our sources and methods" }, "_links": { "self": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/48643" } ], "about": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post" } ], "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=48643", "embeddable": true } ], "wp:term": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=48643", "taxonomy": "category", "embeddable": true }, { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=48643", "taxonomy": "post_tag", "embeddable": true } ], "collection": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts" } ], "wp:attachment": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=48643" } ], "version-history": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/48643/revisions", "count": 11 } ], "wp:featuredmedia": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media/35909", "embeddable": true } ], "predecessor-version": [ { "id": 58459, "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/48643/revisions/58459" } ] }, "author": 17, "format": "standard", "status": "publish", "sticky": false, "content": { "rendered": "\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Our carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on <em>Our World in Data</em>. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find our Complete CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our <a href=\"https://github.com/owid/co2-data\">GitHub repository</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can explore all of this data in our <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2\">CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Data Explorer</a>.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions: our data sources</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Territorial annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Our main metric \u2013 annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions \u2013 is sourced from the <a href=\"https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/\">Global Carbon Project</a>. This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew and Peters provide a <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234\">clear and detailed methodology</a> on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users):</p>\n\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>https://zenodo.org/records/10065794</link-url>\n <title>How this dataset is constructed</title>\n <content>\n\n<p></p>\n\n</content>\n <figure></figure>\n </block>\n\n\n<p>The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, extending back to the year 1750. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>We present our data for three key metrics:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>‘Fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions’, which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It <em>does not</em> include emissions from land use change.</li><li>Land use change emissions.</li><li>The combined total of land use change and fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The main <a href=\"https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget\">Global Carbon Project dataset</a> provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234\">a long-term dataset</a> from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also provides per capita estimates \u2013 we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full citation: </strong>Friedlingstein, P., O’Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landsch\u00fctzer, P., Le Qu\u00e9r\u00e9, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., G\u00fcrses, \u00d6., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarn\u00edkov\u00e1, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., K\u00f6rtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lef\u00e8vre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O’Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., R\u00f6denbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., S\u00e9f\u00e9rian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023\">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023</a>, 2023.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Consumption-based annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Our data on annual consumption-based CO<sub>2 </sub>emissions is also sourced from the <a href=\"https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/\">Global Carbon Project</a>. The data is available <a href=\"https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It provides estimates for some \u2013 but not all \u2013 countries from 1990 onwards <em>(see our FAQ on this below)</em>. This is based on the methodology laid out by <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012\">Peters et al. (2012)</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumption-based emissions data <em>does not</em> include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production \u2013 are included.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO<sub>2</sub> molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from <a href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions\">Climate Watch</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO\u2082 gases. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large <em>negative</em> emissions from land use change <em>(see our FAQ on this below)</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Derived metrics from this dataset</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2\">CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Data Explorer</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this globally and for every country.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Share of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region\u2019s emissions by the global emissions in any given year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per unit of primary energy</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>CO<sub>2</sub><strong> </strong>emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the <a href=\"https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review\">Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy</a>. However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the <a href=\"https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data\">international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>CO<sub>2</sub><strong> </strong>emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s economy is (hence why it is often called the \u2018carbon intensity of economies\u2019).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this by dividing a country or region\u2019s annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for GDP data is the <a href=\"https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020\">Maddison Project database</a>. We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us\">here</a>. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full citation: </strong>Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), \u201cMaddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update\u201d.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions embedded in trade</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this as the difference between a country\u2019s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the <em>net</em> trade of emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net <em>importers</em> of emissions have positive values. Net <em>exporters</em> have negative values.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This metric is shown <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this by taking the metric described above \u2013 net emissions embedded in trade \u2013 and dividing it by a country\u2019s territorial (domestic) emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This metric is shown <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Common FAQs about this emissions data</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4>How often is this data updated?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually \u2013 typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO<sub>2</sub> emissions?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> <em>concentrations</em> which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our <em>emissions</em> of CO<sub>2</sub> from energy production and industry are not measured directly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Calculating the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned</li><li>The carbon content of this fuel</li><li>How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<p>By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO<sub>2</sub> produced from a given fuel:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>CO<sub>2</sub> (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised</em></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy \u2013 coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels \u2013 for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content <a href=\"https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/\">compared to</a> bituminous coal).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>Consumption = Production \u2013 Exports + Imports + Change in stocks</em></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (<em>see our </em><a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy\"><em>Energy Data Explorer</em></a><em>, for example</em>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption \u2013 and derived CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Are emissions from land use change included?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2022 update \u2013 for the first time \u2013 includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In <a href=\"https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map\">this chart</a> we show the project\u2019s assessment of the data quality for each country.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO<sub>2</sub> emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. </p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping <em>are</em> included in each country\u2019s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping <em>are not</em> included in any country or region\u2019s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying\">related article</a><strong> </strong>we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are, however, included in the global total. You also <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region\">find it here</a> as a separate category.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We report CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in two ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The standard reported metric is <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita\">territorial CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a>. This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It <em>does not</em> adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of <em>where the CO<sub>2</sub> was emitted</em>. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>We also provide <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita\">consumption-based CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a> as a second metric. This <em>does</em> adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO</strong><strong><sub>2</sub></strong><strong> emissions that are being used.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this same reason \u2013 insufficient high-resolution trade data \u2013 it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You will notice in our charts which show the <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source\">breakdown of emissions by fuel type</a> (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This category captures the <em>direct</em> CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from the industrial process used in cement production. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cement has a binding agent called \u2018clinker\u2019. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO<sub>2 </sub>as a by-product. So, we get:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>CaCO<sub>3</sub> + heat \u2014> CaO + CO<sub>2</sub></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement\u2019s <em>total</em> emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>indirect</em> emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the \u2018cement\u2019 category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Why are total greenhouse gas emissions <em>lower</em> than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels for some countries?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For some countries, <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita\">total greenhouse gas emissions</a> can be <em>lower</em> than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be ‘negative’, if a country sequesters a lot of CO<sub>2</sub> through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions \u2013 significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Explore this data in our Data Explorer</h3>\n\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2</link-url>\n <title>CO\u2082 Emissions Data Explorer</title>\n <content></content>\n <figure><img width=\"768\" height=\"402\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-768x402.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-768x402.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-400x209.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-800x419.png 800w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-150x79.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n </block>\n\n\n<p></p>\n", "protected": false }, "excerpt": { "rendered": "How do we construct our global data on CO\u2082 emissions?", "protected": false }, "date_gmt": "2022-02-09T17:44:38", "modified": "2023-11-13T14:42:17", "template": "", "categories": [ 1 ], "ping_status": "closed", "authors_name": [ "Hannah Ritchie" ], "modified_gmt": "2023-11-13T14:42:17", "comment_status": "closed", "featured_media": 35909, "featured_media_paths": { "thumbnail": "/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-150x79.png", "medium_large": "/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-768x402.png" } }

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CO₂ emissions dataset: Our sources and methods

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<div class="wp-block-columns"> <div class="wp-block-column"> Our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on Our World in Data. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change.   Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data.   You can find our Complete CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our <a href="https://github.com/owid/co2-data">GitHub repository</a>.   You can explore all of this data in our <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2">CO2 Emissions Data Explorer</a>. </div>   <div class="wp-block-column"> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> </div> </div>    <h3>CO2 emissions: our data sources</h3>   Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources.   <h4>Territorial annual CO2 emissions</h4>   Our main metric – annual CO2 emissions – is sourced from the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/">Global Carbon Project</a>. This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below.   Andrew and Peters provide a <a href="https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234">clear and detailed methodology</a> on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users):       The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO2 emissions, extending back to the year 1750.    We present our data for three key metrics:   <ul><li>'Fossil CO2 emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It does not include emissions from land use change.</li><li>Land use change emissions.</li><li>The combined total of land use change and fossil CO2 emissions.</li></ul>   The main <a href="https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget">Global Carbon Project dataset</a> provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, <a href="https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234">a long-term dataset</a> from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.   It also provides per capita estimates – we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.   The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO2 emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.   Full citation: Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landschützer, P., Le Quéré, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., Gürses, Ö., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarníková, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., Körtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lefèvre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., Rödenbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., Séférian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023</a>, 2023.   <h4>Consumption-based annual CO2 emissions</h4>   Our data on annual consumption-based CO2 emissions is also sourced from the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/">Global Carbon Project</a>. The data is available <a href="https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget">here</a>.   It provides estimates for some – but not all – countries from 1990 onwards (see our FAQ on this below). This is based on the methodology laid out by <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012">Peters et al. (2012)</a>.   Consumption-based emissions data does not include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production – are included.   The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO2, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO2 molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.   <h4>Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions</h4>   Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from <a href="https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions">Climate Watch</a>.   It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO₂ gases.   Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large negative emissions from land use change (see our FAQ on this below).   <h3>Derived metrics from this dataset</h3>   At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO2 emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2">CO2 Emissions Data Explorer</a>.   Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.   <h4>CO2 emissions per capita</h4>   CO2 emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.   It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.   The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.    The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources">here</a>.   <h4>Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita</h4>   Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.   It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.   The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above.    The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources">here</a>.   <h4>Cumulative CO2 emissions</h4>   We calculate cumulative CO2 emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.   For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.   We calculate this globally and for every country.   <h4>Share of global CO2 emissions</h4>   We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region’s emissions by the global emissions in any given year.   For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:   [1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.   <h4>CO2 emissions per unit of primary energy</h4>   CO2 emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.   We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.   The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.   For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the <a href="https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review">Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy</a>. However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data">international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)</a>.   <h4>CO2 emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)</h4>   CO2 emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s economy is (hence why it is often called the ‘carbon intensity of economies’).   We calculate this by dividing a country or region’s annual CO2 emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).   The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.   The source for GDP data is the <a href="https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020">Maddison Project database</a>. We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us">here</a>. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.   Full citation: Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), “Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update”.   <h4>Emissions embedded in trade</h4>   We calculate this as the difference between a country’s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the net trade of emissions.   It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net importers of emissions have positive values. Net exporters have negative values.   This metric is shown <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade">here</a>.   <h4>Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions</h4>   We calculate this by taking the metric described above – net emissions embedded in trade – and dividing it by a country’s territorial (domestic) emissions.   Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.   This metric is shown <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade">here</a>.   <h3>Common FAQs about this emissions data</h3>   <h4>How often is this data updated?</h4>   The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually – typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.   <h4>How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO2 emissions?</h4>   Unlike atmospheric CO2 concentrations which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our emissions of CO2 from energy production and industry are not measured directly.   Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.   Calculating the amount of CO2 emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:   <ol><li>How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned</li><li>The carbon content of this fuel</li><li>How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process</li></ol>   By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO2 produced from a given fuel:   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote">CO2 (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised</blockquote>   Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy – coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels – for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/">compared to</a> bituminous coal).   For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Consumption = Production – Exports + Imports + Change in stocks</blockquote>   For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (see our <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy">Energy Data Explorer</a>, for example).   Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption – and derived CO2 emissions.   <h4>Are emissions from land use change included?</h4>   Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.   The 2022 update – for the first time – includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.   The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In <a href="https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map">this chart</a> we show the project’s assessment of the data quality for each country.   Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO2 emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use.   <h4>Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?</h4>   Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping are included in each country’s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping are not included in any country or region’s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying">related article</a> we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.   They are, however, included in the global total. You also <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region">find it here</a> as a separate category.   <h4>Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods?</h4>   We report CO2 emissions in two ways:   <ul><li>The standard reported metric is <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita">territorial CO2 emissions</a>. This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It does not adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of where the CO2 was emitted. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China.</li></ul>   <ul><li>We also provide <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita">consumption-based CO2 emissions</a> as a second metric. This does adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK.</li></ul>   Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO2 emissions that are being used.   <h4>Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries?</h4>   To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO2 emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations.   For this same reason – insufficient high-resolution trade data – it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included.   Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020.   <h4>Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category?</h4>   You will notice in our charts which show the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source">breakdown of emissions by fuel type</a> (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category.   This category captures the direct CO2 emissions from the industrial process used in cement production.    Cement has a binding agent called ‘clinker’. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO3) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO2 as a by-product. So, we get:   <blockquote class="wp-block-quote">CaCO3 + heat —> CaO + CO2</blockquote>   These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement’s total emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset.   The indirect emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the ‘cement’ category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process.   <h4>Why are total greenhouse gas emissions lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels for some countries?</h4>   For some countries, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita">total greenhouse gas emissions</a> can be lower than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative.   This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be 'negative', if a country sequesters a lot of CO2 through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative.   Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions – significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels.   <h3>Explore this data in our Data Explorer</h3>

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                                "text": "'Fossil CO",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "2",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-subscript"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "does not",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " include emissions from land use change.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "Land use change emissions.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "The combined total of land use change and fossil CO",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "2",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-subscript"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " emissions.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The main ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Global Carbon Project dataset",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "a long-term dataset",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "It also provides per capita estimates \u2013 we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Full citation: ",
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                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-bold"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landsch\u00fctzer, P., Le Qu\u00e9r\u00e9, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., G\u00fcrses, \u00d6., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarn\u00edkov\u00e1, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., K\u00f6rtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lef\u00e8vre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., R\u00f6denbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., S\u00e9f\u00e9rian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ", 2023.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Consumption-based annual CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Our data on annual consumption-based CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2 ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "emissions is also sourced from the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Global Carbon Project",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". The data is available ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "here",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "It provides estimates for some \u2013 but not all \u2013 countries from 1990 onwards ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "(see our FAQ on this below)",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". This is based on the methodology laid out by ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Peters et al. (2012)",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Consumption-based emissions data ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "does not",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production \u2013 are included.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ", we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions",
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                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Climate Watch",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO\u2082 gases. ",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "negative",
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions from land use change ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "(see our FAQ on this below)",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Derived metrics from this dataset",
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                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO",
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "CO",
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                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "2",
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                            {
                                "text": " Emissions Data Explorer",
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                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                ],
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.",
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "CO",
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "2",
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions per capita",
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                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
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                "type": "text",
                "value": [
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                        "text": "CO",
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                        "children": [
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                                "text": "2",
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                        "text": " emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.",
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                ],
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                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.",
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                ],
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            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
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                        "text": "The source for the annual CO",
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                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.\u00a0",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "here",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita",
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                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above.\u00a0",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "here",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
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                    {
                        "text": ".",
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                ],
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Cumulative CO",
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions",
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                ],
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                "level": 3,
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                "value": [
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                        "text": "We calculate cumulative CO",
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
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                        "text": "We calculate this globally and for every country.",
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                ],
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            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Share of global CO",
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                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        "text": " emissions",
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            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
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                        "text": "We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region\u2019s emissions by the global emissions in any given year.",
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                    }
                ],
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            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO",
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                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
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                    {
                        "text": " in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:",
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                    }
                ],
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                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "[1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.",
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                    }
                ],
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            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "CO",
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
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                        ],
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions per unit of primary energy",
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                    }
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                        "text": "CO",
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                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": " ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-bold"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The source for the annual CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": " ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-bold"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s economy is (hence why it is often called the \u2018carbon intensity of economies\u2019).",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "We calculate this by dividing a country or region\u2019s annual CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The source for the annual CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The source for GDP data is the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Maddison Project database",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "here",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
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                "value": [
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Full citation:\u00a0",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-bold"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), \u201cMaddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update\u201d.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
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            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Emissions embedded in trade",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "We calculate this as the difference between a country\u2019s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "net",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " trade of emissions.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "importers",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " of emissions have positive values. Net ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "exporters",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
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                    {
                        "text": " have negative values.",
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "This metric is shown ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "here",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "We calculate this by taking the metric described above \u2013 net emissions embedded in trade \u2013 and dividing it by a country\u2019s territorial (domestic) emissions.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "This metric is shown ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "here",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ".",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Common FAQs about this emissions data",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "How often is this data updated?",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually \u2013 typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions?",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Unlike atmospheric CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "concentrations",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "emissions",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " of CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " from energy production and industry are not measured directly.",
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                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Calculating the amount of CO",
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:",
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                ],
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            },
            {
                "type": "numbered-list",
                "items": [
                    {
                        "type": "text",
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                                "text": "How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned",
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                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "The carbon content of this fuel",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
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                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
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                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO",
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
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                    {
                        "text": " produced from a given fuel:",
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "CO",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "children": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "2",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                                    },
                                    {
                                        "text": " (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised",
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                        "text": "Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy \u2013 coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels \u2013 for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "compared to",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
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                    },
                    {
                        "text": " bituminous coal).",
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                ],
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:",
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                ],
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Consumption = Production \u2013 Exports + Imports + Change in stocks",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            }
                        ],
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                ],
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            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "see our ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Energy Data Explorer",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": ", for example",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ").",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption \u2013 and derived CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
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                        ],
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                    {
                        "text": " emissions.",
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Are emissions from land use change included?",
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                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The 2022 update \u2013 for the first time \u2013 includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.",
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In ",
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                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "this chart",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " we show the project\u2019s assessment of the data quality for each country.",
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                ],
                "parseErrors": []
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "2",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-subscript"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 3,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping ",
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                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "are",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " included in each country\u2019s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "are not",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " included in any country or region\u2019s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "related article",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": " ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-bold"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
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                ],
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            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "They are, however, included in the global total. You also ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region",
                        "children": [
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                                "text": "find it here",
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2022-02-09 17:44:38

2024-03-03 20:18:28

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[
    "Hannah Ritchie"
]

How do we construct our global data on CO₂ emissions?

2022-02-09 17:35:52

2023-11-13 14:42:17

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{}

Our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on _Our World in Data_. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change. Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data. You can find our Complete CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our [GitHub repository](https://github.com/owid/co2-data). You can explore all of this data in our [CO2 Emissions Data Explorer](http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2). <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL"/> ## CO2 emissions: our data sources Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources. ### Territorial annual CO2 emissions Our main metric – annual CO2 emissions – is sourced from the [Global Carbon Project](https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/). This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below. Andrew and Peters provide a [clear and detailed methodology](https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234) on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users): ### How this dataset is constructed https://zenodo.org/records/10065794 The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO2 emissions, extending back to the year 1750. We present our data for three key metrics: * 'Fossil CO2 emissions', which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It _does not_ include emissions from land use change. * Land use change emissions. * The combined total of land use change and fossil CO2 emissions. The main [Global Carbon Project dataset](https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget) provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, [a long-term dataset](https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234) from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on. It also provides per capita estimates – we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied. The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO2 emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others. **Full citation: **Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landschützer, P., Le Quéré, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., Gürses, Ö., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarníková, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., Körtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lefèvre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O'Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., Rödenbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., Séférian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, [https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023](https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023), 2023. ### Consumption-based annual CO2 emissions Our data on annual consumption-based CO2 emissions is also sourced from the [Global Carbon Project](https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/). The data is available [here](https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget). It provides estimates for some – but not all – countries from 1990 onwards _(see our FAQ on this below)_. This is based on the methodology laid out by [Peters et al. (2012)](https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012). Consumption-based emissions data _does not_ include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production – are included. The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO2, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO2 molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom. ### Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from [Climate Watch](https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions). It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO₂ gases. Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large _negative_ emissions from land use change _(see our FAQ on this below)_. ## Derived metrics from this dataset At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO2 emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our [CO2 Emissions Data Explorer](http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2). Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used. ### CO2 emissions per capita CO2 emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region. It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population. The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed [here](https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources). ### Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region. It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population. The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above. The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed [here](https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources). ### Cumulative CO2 emissions We calculate cumulative CO2 emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards. For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755. We calculate this globally and for every country. ### Share of global CO2 emissions We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region’s emissions by the global emissions in any given year. For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for: [1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions. ### CO2 emissions per unit of primary energy CO2** **emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less. We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption. The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the [Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy](https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review). However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the [international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)](https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data). ### CO2 emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies) CO2** **emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country’s economy is (hence why it is often called the ‘carbon intensity of economies’). We calculate this by dividing a country or region’s annual CO2 emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP). The source for the annual CO2 emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above. The source for GDP data is the [Maddison Project database](https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020). We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data [here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us). GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries. **Full citation: **Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), “Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update”. ### Emissions embedded in trade We calculate this as the difference between a country’s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the _net_ trade of emissions. It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net _importers_ of emissions have positive values. Net _exporters_ have negative values. This metric is shown [here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade). ### Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions We calculate this by taking the metric described above – net emissions embedded in trade – and dividing it by a country’s territorial (domestic) emissions. Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter. This metric is shown [here](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade). ## Common FAQs about this emissions data ### How often is this data updated? The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually – typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release. ### How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO2 emissions? Unlike atmospheric CO2_concentrations_ which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our _emissions_ of CO2 from energy production and industry are not measured directly. Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce. Calculating the amount of CO2 emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things: 0. How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned 1. The carbon content of this fuel 2. How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO2 produced from a given fuel: -- undefined Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy – coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels – for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content [compared to](https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/) bituminous coal). For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as: -- undefined For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (_see our _[_Energy Data Explorer_](http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy)_, for example_). Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption – and derived CO2 emissions. ### Are emissions from land use change included? Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals. The 2022 update – for the first time – includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750. The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In [this chart](https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map) we show the project’s assessment of the data quality for each country. Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO2 emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. ### Are emissions from aviation and shipping included? Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping _are_ included in each country’s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping _are not_ included in any country or region’s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our [related article](https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying)** **we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation. They are, however, included in the global total. You also [find it here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region) as a separate category. ### Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods? We report CO2 emissions in two ways: * The standard reported metric is [territorial CO2 emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita). This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It _does not_ adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of _where the CO2 was emitted_. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China. * We also provide [consumption-based CO2 emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=CO%E2%82%82&Accounting=Consumption-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita) as a second metric. This _does_ adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK. **Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO****2**** emissions that are being used.** ### Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries? To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO2 emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations. For this same reason – insufficient high-resolution trade data – it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included. Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020. ### Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category? You will notice in our charts which show the [breakdown of emissions by fuel type](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source) (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category. This category captures the _direct_ CO2 emissions from the industrial process used in cement production. Cement has a binding agent called ‘clinker’. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO3) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO2 as a by-product. So, we get: -- undefined These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement’s _total_ emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset. The _indirect_ emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the ‘cement’ category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process. ### Why are total greenhouse gas emissions _lower_ than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels for some countries? For some countries, [total greenhouse gas emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&facet=none&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel=Total&Count=Per+capita) can be _lower_ than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative. This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be 'negative', if a country sequesters a lot of CO2 through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative. Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions – significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels. ## Explore this data in our Data Explorer ### CO₂ Emissions Data Explorer ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2

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        "rendered": "\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Our carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions dataset is one of our most-used datasets on <em>Our World in Data</em>. It is the key metric we need to understand our progress on slowing global climate change.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here we document the sources that we use to build this dataset; how we calculate additional derived metrics; and answer frequently asked questions that people have about this data.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find our Complete CO<sub>2</sub> and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset, including all of the raw data and the scripts we use to build it, in our <a href=\"https://github.com/owid/co2-data\">GitHub repository</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can explore all of this data in our <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2\">CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Data Explorer</a>.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=~OWID_WRL\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions: our data sources</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we provide details of the underlying data sources used to build this dataset. When citing this work, please also cite the original sources.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Territorial annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Our main metric \u2013 annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions \u2013 is sourced from the <a href=\"https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/\">Global Carbon Project</a>. This is the primary raw metric that we rely on to calculate the range of derived metrics presented below.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew and Peters provide a <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234\">clear and detailed methodology</a> on how this data is constructed (this is recommended reading for users):</p>\n\n\n    <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n        <link-url>https://zenodo.org/records/10065794</link-url>\n        <title>How this dataset is constructed</title>\n        <content>\n\n<p></p>\n\n</content>\n        <figure></figure>\n    </block>\n\n\n<p>The Global Carbon Project updates its dataset annually with data on global and national CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, extending back to the year 1750.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We present our data for three key metrics:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>&#8216;Fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions&#8217;, which includes all emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement. It <em>does not</em> include emissions from land use change.</li><li>Land use change emissions.</li><li>The combined total of land use change and fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The main <a href=\"https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget\">Global Carbon Project dataset</a> provides annual emissions from 1959 onwards. However, <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.5569234\">a long-term dataset</a> from 1750 onwards is also supplied by Robbie Andrew and Glen Peters. It is this long-term dataset that we rely on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also provides per capita estimates \u2013 we do not take these values, and instead calculate our own, as detailed in the next section. Any differences between our per capita emissions and those of the Global Carbon Project will result from differences in the population denominator that is applied.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Global Carbon Project collate and assimilate a large number of data sources to produce their fossil CO<sub>2</sub> emissions dataset, including official reports to the UNFCCC, national official statistical agencies, CDIAC-FF, Energy Institute, and many others.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full citation: </strong>Friedlingstein, P., O&#8217;Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., Andrew, R. M., Bakker, D. C. E., Hauck, J., Landsch\u00fctzer, P., Le Qu\u00e9r\u00e9, C., Luijkx, I. T., Peters, G. P., Peters, W., Pongratz, J., Schwingshackl, C., Sitch, S., Canadell, J. G., Ciais, P., Jackson, R. B., Alin, S. R., Anthoni, P., Barbero, L., Bates, N. R., Becker, M., Bellouin, N., Decharme, B., Bopp, L., Brasika, I. B. M., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Chandra, N., Chau, T.-T.-T., Chevallier, F., Chini, L. P., Cronin, M., Dou, X., Enyo, K., Evans, W., Falk, S., Feely, R. A., Feng, L., Ford, D. J., Gasser, T., Ghattas, J., Gkritzalis, T., Grassi, G., Gregor, L., Gruber, N., G\u00fcrses, \u00d6., Harris, I., Hefner, M., Heinke, J., Houghton, R. A., Hurtt, G. C., Iida, Y., Ilyina, T., Jacobson, A. R., Jain, A., Jarn\u00edkov\u00e1, T., Jersild, A., Jiang, F., Jin, Z., Joos, F., Kato, E., Keeling, R. F., Kennedy, D., Klein Goldewijk, K., Knauer, J., Korsbakken, J. I., K\u00f6rtzinger, A., Lan, X., Lef\u00e8vre, N., Li, H., Liu, J., Liu, Z., Ma, L., Marland, G., Mayot, N., McGuire, P. C., McKinley, G. A., Meyer, G., Morgan, E. J., Munro, D. R., Nakaoka, S.-I., Niwa, Y., O&#8217;Brien, K. M., Olsen, A., Omar, A. M., Ono, T., Paulsen, M., Pierrot, D., Pocock, K., Poulter, B., Powis, C. M., Rehder, G., Resplandy, L., Robertson, E., R\u00f6denbeck, C., Rosan, T. M., Schwinger, J., S\u00e9f\u00e9rian, R., Smallman, T. L., Smith, S. M., Sospedra-Alfonso, R., Sun, Q., Sutton, A. J., Sweeney, C., Takao, S., Tans, P. P., Tian, H., Tilbrook, B., Tsujino, H., Tubiello, F., van der Werf, G. R., van Ooijen, E., Wanninkhof, R., Watanabe, M., Wimart-Rousseau, C., Yang, D., Yang, X., Yuan, W., Yue, X., Zaehle, S., Zeng, J., and Zheng, B.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301-5369, <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023\">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023</a>, 2023.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Consumption-based annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Our data on annual consumption-based CO<sub>2 </sub>emissions is also sourced from the <a href=\"https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/\">Global Carbon Project</a>. The data is available <a href=\"https://www.icos-cp.eu/science-and-impact/global-carbon-budget\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It provides estimates for some \u2013 but not all \u2013 countries from 1990 onwards <em>(see our FAQ on this below)</em>. This is based on the methodology laid out by <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-3247-2012\">Peters et al. (2012)</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumption-based emissions data <em>does not</em> include land use change. Only emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels (from coal, oil, gas and flaring) plus direct industrial emissions from cement production \u2013 are included.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original data is presented in tonnes of carbon. To convert to tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub>, we have multiplied these values by 3.664. This is the conversion factor recommended by the Global Carbon Project. It comes from the fact that an average CO<sub>2</sub> molecule has a mass 3.664 times that of a carbon atom.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Total greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Our data on annual emissions of total greenhouse gas emissions, methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions is sourced from <a href=\"https://www.climatewatchdata.org/data-explorer/historical-emissions\">Climate Watch</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It provides estimates on total greenhouse gas emissions (including, and excluding land use change as separate metrics); methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions. These are measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO<sub>2</sub>e) based on 100-year global warming potential factors for non-CO\u2082 gases. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that these figures come with higher uncertainty than data on CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels. Total greenhouse gas emissions can also appear to be lower than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels if a country has large <em>negative</em> emissions from land use change <em>(see our FAQ on this below)</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Derived metrics from this dataset</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>At Our World in Data we use this long-term data on annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions to calculate several additional metrics. All of these metrics are presented in our <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2\">CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Data Explorer</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we explain how these metrics are calculated, and any additional sources used.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Greenhouse gas emissions; methane emissions; and nitrous oxide emissions per capita</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Emissions per capita measure the average annual emissions per person for a country or region.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is calculated by dividing the total annual emissions of the country or region by its total population.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual greenhouse gas, methane and nitrous oxide emissions data is the Climate Watch Data Explorer, as described above.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The population data used in this calculation is our long-run population series which combines three underlying data sources: the HYDE database (History Database of the Global Environment); Gapminder; and the UN World Population Prospects. We describe how this population dataset is constructed <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/population-sources\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate cumulative CO<sub>2</sub> emissions as the sum of annual emissions from 1750 onwards.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, cumulative emissions in 1755 are the sum of emissions from 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, and 1755.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this globally and for every country.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Share of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this metric by dividing a country or region\u2019s emissions by the global emissions in any given year.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if Country A emitted 1 billion tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> in 2019, and global emissions in 2019 were 36 billion tonnes, country A was responsible for:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[1 / 36] * 100 = 2.8% of global emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per unit of primary energy</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>CO<sub>2</sub><strong> </strong>emissions per unit of primary energy are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s energy mix is. A country that relies heavily on coal, for example, will emit large amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy. A country that has lots of nuclear and renewables will emit much less.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this metric by dividing the total annual emissions of a country or region by its primary energy consumption.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For annual energy consumption, we combined two sources. Our primary data source is the <a href=\"https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review\">Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy</a>. However, it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we rely on the <a href=\"https://www.eia.gov/international/data/world/total-energy/more-total-energy-data\">international energy data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>CO<sub>2</sub> emissions per dollar of GDP (carbon intensity of economies)</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>CO<sub>2</sub><strong> </strong>emissions per dollar are used to measure how carbon-intensive a country\u2019s economy is (hence why it is often called the \u2018carbon intensity of economies\u2019).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this by dividing a country or region\u2019s annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by its total annual gross domestic product (GDP).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for the annual CO<sub>2</sub> emissions data is the Global Carbon Project, as described above.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The source for GDP data is the <a href=\"https://www.rug.nl/ggdc/historicaldevelopment/maddison/releases/maddison-project-database-2020\">Maddison Project database</a>. We calculate total GDP by multiplying the Maddison metric of GDP per capita, by the total population. You can find our chart with this data <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maddison-data-gdp-per-capita-in-2011us\">here</a>. GDP is measured in constant 2011 international-dollars. This means that it adjusts for price changes over time (inflation) and price differences between countries.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full citation:&nbsp;</strong>Maddison Project Database, version 2020. Bolt, Jutta and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2020), \u201cMaddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy. A new 2020 update\u201d.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions embedded in trade</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this as the difference between a country\u2019s consumption-based emissions and territorial emissions. This means it is the <em>net</em> trade of emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is equal to consumption-based emissions minus territorial emissions in any given year. This means net <em>importers</em> of emissions have positive values. Net <em>exporters</em> have negative values.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This metric is shown <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co-emissions-embedded-in-global-trade\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Emissions embedded in trade as a share of domestic emissions</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We calculate this by taking the metric described above \u2013 net emissions embedded in trade \u2013 and dividing it by a country\u2019s territorial (domestic) emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, positive values mean a country is a net importer of emissions. Negative values mean a country is a net exporter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This metric is shown <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&amp;country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR&amp;Gas=CO%E2%82%82&amp;Accounting=Consumption-based&amp;Fuel=Total&amp;Count=Share+of+emissions+embedded+in+trade\">here</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Common FAQs about this emissions data</h3>\n\n\n\n<h4>How often is this data updated?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Global Carbon Project (GCP) updates its data annually \u2013 typically in November or December each year. We aim to update very soon after each new release.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>How do researchers estimate and construct long-term CO<sub>2</sub> emissions?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> <em>concentrations</em> which we can monitor directly in the modern day, our <em>emissions</em> of CO<sub>2</sub> from energy production and industry are not measured directly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, researchers estimate them indirectly based on the amount of fuel that we burn, and the amount of industrial products we produce.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Calculating the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted from energy consumption is relatively simple. We need to know three things:</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>How much of a given fuel (e.g. coal) is burned</li><li>The carbon content of this fuel</li><li>How much of this carbon is oxidised in the combustion process</li></ol>\n\n\n\n<p>By multiplying these figures together we can estimate the CO<sub>2</sub> produced from a given fuel:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>CO<sub>2</sub> (in terms of carbon) = Quantity of fuel burned * Carbon content of this fuel * Fraction of this carbon that is oxidised</em></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Points (2) and (3) are now well-established for the range of fuels that we use for energy \u2013 coal, oil, and gas (as well as the variation within these fuels \u2013 for example, lignite is a form of coal that has a low carbon content <a href=\"https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/\">compared to</a> bituminous coal).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For factor (1) researchers use detailed accounts of fossil fuel extraction, production, and trade to estimate how much of a given fuel is burned in each country. For a country, this would be calculated as:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>Consumption = Production \u2013 Exports + Imports + Change in stocks</em></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For modern data this is much more straightforward: most countries and industries have and need detailed accounts of energy supply and demand (<em>see our </em><a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy\"><em>Energy Data Explorer</em></a><em>, for example</em>).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers have invested large efforts into reconstructions of historical energy statistics, dating back to 1750 (see, for example, Andres et al. (1999); Etemad et al. (1998)). The further back in time we go, the less detailed our records are; and for some countries, these figures have greater uncertainty. Nonetheless, they provide solid estimates of long-term trends in energy consumption \u2013 and derived CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Are emissions from land use change included?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Until the 2022 update of the Global Carbon Budget, national emissions data was only available for CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes (such as cement production). Emissions from land-use change were only reported as global totals.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2022 update \u2013 for the first time \u2013 includes land use estimates for countries, extending back to 1750.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The quality of these estimates is better for some countries than others. In <a href=\"https://owid.cloud/grapher/land-use-co2-quality-flag?tab=map\">this chart</a> we show the project\u2019s assessment of the data quality for each country.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the estimates of emissions for fossil fuels and industry are much more certain than for land use change, we still adopt the former as our main CO<sub>2</sub> emissions metric. However, we now also include charts on land use change, and combined emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use. </p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Are emissions from aviation and shipping included?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Emissions from domestic aviation and shipping <em>are</em> included in each country\u2019s total. Emissions from international aviation and shipping <em>are not</em> included in any country or region\u2019s total. This is because there is no international agreement on how these emissions should be allocated: should they, for example, be allocated to the country of origin or destination? In our <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-flying\">related article</a><strong> </strong>we look at a separate dataset on emissions from aviation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are, however, included in the global total. You also <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region\">find it here</a> as a separate category.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Does this data account for emissions embedded in traded goods?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>We report CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in two ways:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The standard reported metric is <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&amp;country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&amp;Gas=CO%E2%82%82&amp;Accounting=Production-based&amp;Fuel=Total&amp;Count=Per+capita\">territorial CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a>. This is the metric typically reported by countries, and the method used to set targets and monitor progress towards them. It <em>does not</em> adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods. It allocates emissions to each country on the basis of <em>where the CO<sub>2</sub> was emitted</em>. For example, If China burns coal to produce goods that are then sold and shipped to the UK, these emissions are allocated to China.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>We also provide <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&amp;country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&amp;Gas=CO%E2%82%82&amp;Accounting=Consumption-based&amp;Fuel=Total&amp;Count=Per+capita\">consumption-based CO<sub>2</sub> emissions</a> as a second metric. This <em>does</em> adjust for emissions embedded in traded goods and services. Emissions are allocated to the country where the final goods are used. In the example above, the emissions would instead be allocated to the UK.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unless specified as consumption-based emissions in our charts or data, it is territorial CO</strong><strong><sub>2</sub></strong><strong> emissions that are being used.</strong></p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Why are consumption-based emissions only available from 1990? Why are they not available for all countries?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To calculate consumption-based emissions we need detailed trade data between countries and the emissions intensity (the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> emitted per dollar spent) across many industries and sectors in each country. Prior to 1990, there is insufficient high-quality, high-resolution data to produce these calculations.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this same reason \u2013 insufficient high-resolution trade data \u2013 it is not currently possible to calculate consumption-based emissions for all countries. It is mostly high-income and major economies that are included.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumption-based emissions also always lag territorial emissions by one year. For example, when territorial emissions for 2020 were released, the latest year for consumption-based emissions was 2019. This is because the required resolution of trade data was not yet available for 2020.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Why are emissions from cement reported as an individual category?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You will notice in our charts which show the <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-by-source\">breakdown of emissions by fuel type</a> (coal, oil, gas) that cement is also included as an individual category.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This category captures the <em>direct</em> CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from the industrial process used in cement production.&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cement has a binding agent called \u2018clinker\u2019. To produce this clinker, limestone (calcium carbonate: CaCO<sub>3</sub>) is heated to very high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This produces lime (CaO). But it also produces CO<sub>2 </sub>as a by-product.&nbsp;So, we get:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>CaCO<sub>3</sub> + heat \u2014&gt; CaO + CO<sub>2</sub></p></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>These are direct emissions from the cement production process. They account for around half of cement\u2019s <em>total</em> emissions (the direct emissions from this process, plus indirect emissions from energy use). Only the direct emissions for cement are allocated to this category in this dataset.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>indirect</em> emissions from producing energy to power this process are not included in the \u2018cement\u2019 category: they are allocated, instead, to the relevant fuels (coal, oil, gas) used in the energy process.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4>Why are total greenhouse gas emissions <em>lower</em> than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels for some countries?</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For some countries, <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?tab=map&amp;facet=none&amp;country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL&amp;Gas=All+GHGs+%28CO%E2%82%82eq%29&amp;Accounting=Production-based&amp;Fuel=Total&amp;Count=Per+capita\">total greenhouse gas emissions</a> can be <em>lower</em> than emissions from fossil fuels, or in some cases they can even be negative. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is because the metric of total greenhouse gas emissions includes emissions from land use change. In some years, land use emissions can be &#8216;negative&#8217;, if a country sequesters a lot of CO<sub>2</sub> through reforestation or carbon sequestration. If land use change emissions are negative, total greenhouse gas emissions can appear to be lower than CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from fossil fuels. If a country has very large negative emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions can also be negative.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that there is significant uncertainty in land use change emissions \u2013 significantly more than emissions from fossil fuels.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Explore this data in our Data Explorer</h3>\n\n\n    <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n        <link-url>http://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2</link-url>\n        <title>CO\u2082 Emissions Data Explorer</title>\n        <content></content>\n        <figure><img width=\"768\" height=\"402\" src=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-768x402.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-768x402.png 768w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-400x209.png 400w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-800x419.png 800w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page-150x79.png 150w, https://owid.cloud/app/uploads/2020/08/CO2-Landing-page.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n    </block>\n\n\n<p></p>\n",
        "protected": false
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    "excerpt": {
        "rendered": "How do we construct our global data on CO\u2082 emissions?",
        "protected": false
    },
    "date_gmt": "2022-02-09T17:44:38",
    "modified": "2023-11-13T14:42:17",
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    "categories": [
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    ],
    "ping_status": "closed",
    "authors_name": [
        "Hannah Ritchie"
    ],
    "modified_gmt": "2023-11-13T14:42:17",
    "comment_status": "closed",
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