Infographic: Which countries emit the most greenhouse gases?
- In 2022, 53.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) were released into the atmosphere by human activities.
- China, the USA, India, the EU and Russia are, in descending order, the biggest GHG emitters.
- The activities responsible for these emissions are electricity and heat production, followed by manufacturing, transport, agriculture, oil extraction, buildings and waste.
- The fall in Europe's GHG emissions since 1990 underlines, in particular, European de-industrialization in favor of imports of foreign goods.
- However, the measurement of GHG emissions mentioned so far does not take into account the land sector or national imports and exports (unlike the carbon footprint).
In 2022, 53.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHGs) were released into the atmosphere by human activities1. These gases persist in the atmosphere – from a few years to several centuries, depending on their nature – and their concentration is increasing. More precisely, in 2019, the concentration of CO₂ is 47% higher, CH₄ 156% higher and N₂O 23% higher than in 1750 (representative of the pre-industrial era)2. As a result, the average global temperature is rising, almost in proportion to the concentration of CO₂, the main anthropogenic GHG (emitted by human activities). Global warming for the period 2011–2020 is +1.1°C compared with the pre-industrial era (1850–1900).
All countries emit greenhouse gases. According to the European EDGAR database, China (15.7 billion tonnes of CO₂e), the United States (6 billion tonnes of CO₂e), India (3.9 billion tonnes of CO₂e), the European Union (3.6 billion tonnes of CO₂e) and Russia (2.6 billion tonnes of CO₂e) will be the biggest emitters in 2022. France is ranked 20th by country (0.4 billion tonnes of CO₂e according to the same database). At the very bottom of the ranking, we logically find sparsely populated states: the Faroe Islands, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Anguilla, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha emit a few tens of thousands of tonnes of GHG each year.
Mitigating climate change: every gesture counts
Please note: this ranking should not be used as an excuse for “small emitters”. Indeed, some argue that it is pointless for countries representing only a small share of global emissions to take action. This is false for several reasons. The group of countries emitting less than 2% of GHGs – 202 out of 210, almost all of them – account for 38.4% of total emissions. If none of these countries reduce their emissions, it will be impossible to respect the Paris Agreements and keep global warming below 1.5°C or even 2°C. And every contribution counts, since global temperature rises as the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere increases. “No country or sector of activity can claim to be spared the need to reduce GHG emissions”, concludes Étienne Mathias.
Which activities are responsible for these emissions? Electricity and heat generation top the list this time, followed by manufacturing, transport, agriculture, oil extraction, buildings and waste. When we look at the emissions of each gas, the results are very mixed. Fossil fuel combustion is responsible for 81% to 91% of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, livestock farming and fossil fuels for the majority of CH₄ emissions, and fertilization for N₂O.
Over the last few decades, the distribution of global GHG emissions has changed significantly. China’s growth in emissions is the most significant, following an almost exponential curve: the country’s emissions have outstripped those of all the others since 2004. Emissions from the European Union, meanwhile, have been falling significantly since the 1990s. As these data are purely territorial, this trend underlines Europe’s de-industrialisation in favour of imports of foreign goods. Other countries, such as India, Brazil and Vietnam, have seen their emissions rise steadily and steadily since the 70s.
While it is impossible to measure each country’s GHG emissions directly, several estimates exist. “They each illustrate different aspects of the impact of human activities, and each has its limitations”, points out Étienne Mathias. The data mentioned so far in the article concern emissions of all GHGs (reflected in the unit CO₂ equivalent) linked to human activities – industry, transport, agriculture, etc. – excluding the land sector. They therefore do not take into account emissions linked to land conversion, deforestation, forest fires and so on. “When looking at mitigation actions, it is important to look at emissions without including the land sector; the scope of which can vary from one indicator to another,” explains Étienne Mathias. “It is these emissions that are primarily targeted by public policies.”
Another important clarification: these data only include the territorial emissions of States. GHG emissions from goods manufactured abroad and imported are therefore not included in the above indicators. Only the “carbon footprint” indicator includes national imports and exports. Its calculation is based on the sum of household emissions, domestic production and imports, minus the emissions associated with exports. According to the latest report by the French High Council for the Climate3, France’s carbon footprint in 2022 will be 1.6 times higher than its territorial emissions.
The latest figures for France
Between 2022 and 2023, France’s GHG emissions fell by 5.8% to 373 million tonnes of CO₂e4. This estimate is based on the official national inventory required by international commitments, calculated by the Citepa association. The report emphasizes that all major emitting sectors have contributed to this reduction. But behind this good news lies a worrying result for the future.
The national low-carbon strategy (Stratégie Nationale Bas-Carbone, SNBC) sets France’s targets for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2023, the target is well within reach if the land sector is not included. But when carbon sinks – i.e. the CO₂ stored in plants and soils – are included, France this time fails to meet the target it had set itself for the 2019–2023 period. The cause? The considerable reduction in the carbon sink, down from 45 million tonnes of CO₂ in the 2000s to 20 million tonnes of CO₂ today “due to the coupled effect of repeated droughts since 2015, diseases affecting the mortality rate of trees and an increase in wood harvests” according to the Haut conseil pour le climat.
“The objectives of the SNBC‑2 rely on a larger carbon sink than today to successfully achieve carbon neutrality, stresses Étienne Mathias. If the sink is weaker than expected, it means that we’ll have to limit GHG emissions even more than planned. It’s very complicated: the remaining emissions in 2050 will come from agriculture, which is not considered to be very compressible.”
