CO2 emissions excluding LULUCF in the world

CO2 emissions by fuel worldwide

Note: the emissions accounted for here are those linked to fossil energy combustion and industrial processes(see glossary). This corresponds to the total CO2 emissions excluding LULUCF (see glossary). They represent nearly 85% of CO2 emissions in the world, i.e. about 65% of GHG emissions.
Sources : SDES, according to EDGAR, 2021; IEA, 2022

In 2020, The slowdown of the activity imposed by the Covid pandemic resulted in a decrease of the CO2 emissions except LULUCF, mainly corresponding to a lower oil combustion (-11%). However, these emissions still represent a total of 36.0 billion tons, i.e. a multiplication by 2.3 since 1970.

Coal combustion generates 40% of global CO2 emissions, compared to 28% for oil and 20% for natural gas. The remaining 13% is related to industrial processes (such as the transformation of limestone into lime to make cement).

Primary energy mix in the world

Source: IEA, 2022

Energy-related emissions depend on the level of energy consumption as well as on the primary energy mix (see glossary), which, at the global level, remains dominated by fossil fuels in 2020 (oil, coal and natural gas: 80% of the total between them). Oil remains the world's leading energy source, even though its share fell by 15 points between 1971 and 2020, mainly to the benefit of natural gas (+7 points) and nuclear energy (+4 points). However, coal is the main source of CO2 emissions. Indeed, its emission factor is much higher than that of natural gas and oil(see p. 96). Coal consumption, which had risen sharply in the 2000s, has tended to stagnate or even decline in recent years. Although stable overall since 1971, the share of renewable energies has increased slightly over the last ten years, reaching 15% of the mix in 2020.

Geographical distribution of CO2 emissions in the world (excluding LULUCF)

In Mt CO2

	1990	2019	2020	2020 share (%)	Change 2019-2020 (%)	Change 1990-2020 (%)
North America	5 813	6 120	5 486	15.3	- 10.3	- 5.6
Canada	454	595	543	1.5	- 8.8	+ 9.7
United States	5 067	5 036	4 535	2.6	- 9.9	- 10.5
Central and South America	672	1 279	1 173	3.3	- 8.3	+ 4.5
Brazil	228	477	452	1.3	- 1.3	+ 7.9
Europe and former USSR	8 491	6 081	5 577	5.5	- 8.3	- 34.3
Russia	2 395	1 778	1 674	4.7	- 5.8	- 30.1
EU 27	3 818	2 933	2 622	7.3	- 10.6	- 31.3
Germany	1 019	702	637	1.8	- 9.3	- 37.5
Spain	232	256	215	0.6	- 16.0	- 7.4
France	390	327	286	0.8	- 12.4	- 26.7
Italy	430	333	297	0.8	- 10.7	- 30.9
Poland	373	313	293	0.8	- 6.5	- 21.5
United Kingdom	588	359	314	0.9	- 12.7	- 46.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	481	870	807	2.2	- 7.3	+ 67.6
Middle East and North Africa	1 058	3 224	3 126	8.7	- 3.0	+ 195.4
Saudi Arabia	173	593	589	1.6	- 0.8	+ 239.4
Asia	5 273	18 479	18 253	50.8	- 1.2	+ 246.2
China	2 426	11 504	11 680	32.5	+ 1.5	+ 381.5
South Korea	271	663	621	1.7	- 6.3	+ 129.3
India	599	2 564	2 412	6.7	- 5.9	+ 302.7
Japan	1 163	1 139	1 062	3.0	- 6.8	- 8.7
Oceania	309	469	437	1.2	- 6.8	+ 41.4
Annex I countries (see glossary)	15 021	13 089	11 869	33.0	- 9.3	- 21.0
Non-Annex I countries	7 077	23 433	22 992	63.9	- 1.9	+ 224.9
International air routes	258	616	337	0.9	- 45.3	+ 30.5
International maritime routes	371	774	765	2.1	- 1.1	+ 106.0
World	22 728	37 911	35 963	100.0	- 5.1	+ 58.2

Note: International bunkers correspond to emissions from international maritime and air transport which are excluded from national totals (see glossary).
Source: EDGAR, 2021

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 health crisis, global CO2 emissions fell by 5.1% in 2020, after a slight increase (+0.9%) the previous year. This decline was most pronounced in North America (-10.3%) and the European Union (-10.6%), while it was contained in Asia (-1.2%) . In 2021, global CO2 emissions have returned to their 2019 level, after a 5.3% decrease in 2020 (source: EDGAR, 2022).

Evolution of CO2 emissions in the world between 1970 and 2020

Source: EDGAR, 2021

In 2020, China remained the world's largest emitter of CO2 (32.5%), ahead of the United States (15.3%), the European Union (7.3%) and India (6.7%) . In the context of an unevenly distributed economic downturn, global CO2 emissions in 2020 were 58% higher than in 1990 (i.e. 13.2 Gt CO2 ). Over this period, the largest contributors to this increase were China (+382%, or 9.2 Gt CO2 ), India (+303%, or 1.8 Gt CO2 ) and the Middle East and North Africa (+195%, or 2.1 Gt CO2 ). Over the same period, emissions from the United States have started to decrease (-10.5%) ; the decrease is even more marked for the European Union (-31.3%) and France (-26.7%) .

CO2 emissions per capita in the world (excluding LULUCF)

In t CO2/capita

	1990	2019	2020	Change 2019-2020 (%)	Change 1990-2020 (%)
North America	16.1	12.4	11.0	- 11.2	- 31.6
Canada	16.4	15.8	14.3	- 9.9	- 12.9
United States	20.3	15.3	13.7	- 10.8	- 32.6
Central and South America	1.9	2.5	2.2	- 9.1	+ 19.3
Brazil	1.5	2.3	2.1	- 6.0	+ 38.7
Europe and former USSR	10.8	7.3	6.6	- 8.4	- 38.3
of which Russia	16.2	12.3	11.6	- 5.6	- 28.2
EU 27	9.1	6.6	5.9	- 10.7	- 35.5
Germany	12.8	8.5	7.7	- 9.4	- 40.3
Spain	6.0	5.4	4.5	- 16.4	- 24.0
France	6.7	4.9	4.2	- 12.6	- 36.6
Italy	7.6	5.6	5.0	- 10.2	- 34.1
Poland	9.8	8.2	7.7	- 6.3	- 21.0
United Kingdom	10.2	5.4	4.7	- 13.0	- 54.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	1.0	0.8	0.7	- 9.7	- 24.6
Middle East and North Africa	4.2	7.1	6.7	- 4.7	+ 61.6
Saudi Arabia	10.7	17.3	16.9	- 2.3	+ 58.3
Asia	1.8	4.5	4.4	- 2.0	+ 142.5
China	2.1	8.2	8.3	+ 1.3	+ 287.4
South Korea	6.3	12.8	12.0	- 6.4	+ 89.6
India	0.7	1.9	1.7	- 6.9	+ 154.8
Japan	9.4	9.0	8.4	- 6.5	- 10.7
Oceania	11.8	11.5	10.5	- 8.2	- 10.6
Annex I countries	12.5	9.5	8.6	- 9.6	- 31.1
Non-Annex I countries	1.7	3.7	3.6	- 3.0	+ 107.5
World	4.3	4.9	4.6	- 6.1	+ 7.6

Note: this is the CO2 emissions of a territory divided by its population. The emissions that an inhabitant causes on average by his or her consumption are covered by a different approach (the so-called footprint approach, see p. 61).
Sources: SDES, based on EDGAR, 2021; World Bank, 2022

Global CO2 emissions in 2020 were, on average, 4.6 t CO2 per capita, a level down from 2019 (-6.1%) . In addition to the decrease in global emissions between 2019 and 2020 (- 5.1%), there is the effect of population growth (+ 1.0%) .

Per capita emissions show significant geographic disparities, with low levels in Latin America (2.2), India (1.7) or Sub-Saharan Africa (0.7). Average emissions in the European Union (5.9) are higher, although lower than in the United States (13.7), Canada (14.3), Russia (11.6) and China (8.3). French emissions (4.2) are slightly below the world average.

Evolution of CO2 emissions per capita in the world between 1990 and 2020

Sources: SDES, based on EDGAR, 2021; World Bank, 2022

In 2020, global per capita emissions were 8% higher than they were in 1990. The increase was 15% in 2019, before the health crisis. Developed and transition countries (Annex Icountries, see glossary) have a higher level of emissions on average (8.6 t CO2/capita in 2020) but have been decreasing over the last 30 years (-31%). The other countries have an emission level 2.4 times lower on average (3.6 t CO2/capita ) but it has more than doubled in 30 years (+ 108%).

In detail, per capita emissions in Asia increased by 143% between 1990 and 2020 (+287% in China,+155% in India, but-11% in Japan). Over the same period, per capita emissions decreased by 55% in the United Kingdom, by 36% in the European Union (including-37% in France and-40% in Germany), and by 33% in the United States. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the decline in activity in 2020 and strong population growth have resulted in a 25% drop in per capita emissions compared to 1990, keeping it at a low level (0.7 t CO2/capita in 2020).

CO2 emissions related to GDP in the world (excluding LULUCF)

In t CO2/million $ 2017 PPP

	1990	2019	2020	Change 2019-2020 (%)	Change 1990-2020 (%)
North America	472	246	230	- 6.6	- 51.3
Canada	474	322	310	- 3.8	- 34.6
United States	502	246	229	-6.8	- 54.4
Central and South America	216	178	174	- 2.2	- 19.5
Brazil	146	153	151	- 1.5	+ 3.8
Europe and former USSR	457	202	196	- 2.6	- 57.1
Russia	754	444	430	- 3.2	- 42.9
EU 27	318	148	140	- 4.9	- 55.9
Germany	350	157	149	- 5.0	- 57.4
Spain	217	133	125	- 5.8	- 42.2
France	199	106	100	- 5.0	- 49.5
Italy	207	130	128	- 1.8	- 38.3
Poland	864	248	238	- 4.1	- 72.4
United Kingdom	329	114	109	- 3.8	- 66.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	334	211	200	- 5.4	- 40.2
Middle East and North Africa	447	431	433	+ 0.4	- 3.1
Saudi Arabia	258	368	381	+ 3.5	+ 47.7
Asia	497	365	366	+ 0.2	- 26.3
China	1 501	511	508	- 0.7	- 66.2
South Korea	500	300	283	- 5.5	- 43.3
India	378	280	282	+ 0.7	- 25.3
Japan	287	216	211	- 2.4	- 26.5
Oceania	486	311	291	- 6.5	- 40.2
Annex I countries	431	218	208	- 4.8	- 51.8
Non-Annex I countries	432	333	332	- 0.1	- 23.1
World	444	291	285	- 2.1	- 35.8

Note: GDP in volume, converted to U.S. dollars at purchasing power parity (PPP), for the year 2017 (see glossary).
Sources: SDES, based on EDGAR, 2021; World Bank, 2022

Although less dispersed than per capita emissions levels, emissions-to-GDP ratios vary widely between countries, around a global average of 285 t CO2/million $. Some of the highest values are reached in China (508 t CO2/million $) or in Russia (430). Conversely, levels are much lower in Japan (211), Brazil (151) and the European Union (140), particularly France (100).

Evolution of CO2 emissions relative to GDP in the world between 1990 and 2020

Sources: SDES, based on EDGAR, 2021; World Bank, 2022

Between 2019 and 2020, the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP in the world decreased by 2.1%, a rate equivalent to that observed on average over the last ten years (- 2.1%) . In the exceptional context of the health crisis, this evolution is explained by a more marked decrease in emissions (- 5.1%) than in GDP (- 3.1% in 2020).

Since 1990, the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP has decreased by more than a third (-36%) worldwide, while GDP itself has increased 2.5 times.

With a few rare exceptions, the majority of the world's economies are concerned by this decrease in the CO2 intensity of wealth production. The reduction is very pronounced in China (- 66%), a country with a particularly high historical level. The intensity has also been halved in the European Union (-56%) and the United States (-54%).