CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Human emissions of greenhouse gases are the primary driver of climate change today.1

CO2 and other greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide are emitted when we burn fossil fuels, produce materials such as steel, cement, and plastics, and grow the food we eat. If we want to reduce these emissions, we need to transform our energy systems, industries, and food systems.

At the same time, we need to tackle energy poverty, low standards of living, and poor nutrition, which all remain enormous problems for billions of people.

Technological advances could allow us to do both. The prices of solar, wind, and batteries have plummeted in recent decades, increasingly undercutting the cost of fossil fuel alternatives. Further progress could allow us to provide cheap, clean energy for everyone. Political change is essential to create a system that supports rapid decarbonization.

Emissions are still rising in many parts of the world. However, several countries have managed to cut their emissions in recent decades. With affordable low-carbon technologies, other countries can increase their living standards without the high-carbon pathway that rich countries followed in the past.

On this page, you can find our data, visualizations, and writing on CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Research & Writing

Per capita, national, historical: how do countries compare on CO2 metrics?

There are many ways to measure countries’ contributions to climate change. What do they tell us?

How much CO2 can the world emit while keeping warming below 1.5°C and 2°C?

The budget to keep temperatures below 1.5°C is less than a decade of current emissions. For 2°C, it’s less than three decades.

Many countries have decoupled economic growth from CO₂ emissions, even if we take offshored production into account

It is possible to reduce emissions while growing the economy. But this decoupling needs to happen faster.

Overview Articles

Emissions from Energy

A number of countries have decoupled economic growth from energy use, even if we take offshored production into account

Fossil fuel subsidies: If we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions we should not pay people to burn fossil fuels

The world’s energy problem

Why did renewables become so cheap so fast?

What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy?

Emissions from Transport

What share of global CO₂ emissions come from aviation?

Which form of transport has the smallest carbon footprint?

Where in the world do people have the highest CO2 emissions from flying?

Global inequalities in CO₂ emissions from aviation

Cars, planes, trains: where do CO₂ emissions from transport come from?

Emissions from Food

Emissions from food alone could use up all of our budget for 1.5°C or 2°C – but we have a range of opportunities to avoid this

How much of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food?

Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions

Less meat is nearly always better than sustainable meat, to reduce your carbon footprint

You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local

Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions

More Key Articles on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

How much are people across the world paying for their carbon emissions?

Global inequalities in CO2 emissions

Which countries have put a price on carbon?

CO₂ emissions dataset: our sources and methods

The argument for a carbon price

Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?

How do CO2 emissions compare when we adjust for trade?

Country Profiles

Explore the key metrics on CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions for a country of your choice. How do its emissions compare with other countries, both now and in the past?

Key Charts on CO2 & Greenhouse Gas EmissionsSee all charts on this topic Featured Data on CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Endnotes

• IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, In press, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.

• Lacis, A. A., Schmidt, G. A., Rind, D., & Ruedy, R. A. (2010). Atmospheric CO₂: Principal control knob governing Earth’s temperature. Science, 330(6002), 356-359.

• Morice, C.P., J.J. Kennedy, N.A. Rayner, J.P. Winn, E. Hogan, R.E. Killick, R.J.H. Dunn, T.J. Osborn, P.D. Jones and I.R. Simpson (in press) An updated assessment of near-surface temperature change from 1850: the HadCRUT5 dataset. Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres) doi:10.1029/2019JD032361 (supporting information).

• The underlying data for this chart is sourced from the Climate Action Tracker – based on policies and pledges as of April 2022.

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Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado, and Max Roser (2023) - “CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions' [Online Resource] @article{owid-co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions, author = {Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado and Max Roser}, title = {CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions}, journal = {Our World in Data}, year = {2023}, note = {https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions} }

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