Of the 12 countries in this comparison, Australia is worst in CO2 and Greenhouse Gas emissions, with the United States not far behind.
Greenhouse Gases
| COLOR CODING | |
|---|---|
| Green | Ranked first for statistic |
| Red | Ranked last for statistic |
| C02 Intensity | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2000 | 2016 | Total Mt C02 Emissions, 2016 | C02 Emissions per capita, 2016 | % Change 2000 to 2016 | GHG Emissions per capita, 2020 | |
| Australia | 0.53 | 0.48 | 0.35 | 392.37 | 16.00 | -5.04 | 20.54 |
| Canada | 0.49 | 0.46 | 0.35 | 540.77 | 14.91 | -0.12 | 17.69 |
| Denmark | 0.30 | 0.23 | 0.13 | 33.46 | 5.84 | -25.98 | 7.46 |
| France | 0.20 | 0.18 | 0.12 | 292.92 | 4.38 | -21.62 | 5.93 |
| Germany | 0.39 | 0.28 | 0.21 | 731.62 | 8.88 | -8.80 | 8.76 |
| Italy | 0.23 | 0.21 | 0.16 | 325.67 | 5.37 | -29.60 | 6.41 |
| Japan | 0.28 | 0.27 | 0.24 | 1147.13 | 9.04 | -2.33 | 9.13 |
| Netherlands | 0.31 | 0.25 | 0.20 | 157.07 | 9.23 | -3.30 | 9.4 |
| Norway | 0.16 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 35.52 | 6.78 | 9.26 | 9.16 |
| Sweden | 0.20 | 0.16 | 0.08 | 38.00 | 3.83 | -113.72 | 4.47 |
| United Kingdom | 0.36 | 0.27 | 0.15 | 371.14 | 5.65 | -31.41 | 6.05 |
| United States | 0.53 | 0.45 | 0.29 | 4833.08 | 14.95 | -12.84 | 18.15 |
SOURCES
CO2 emissions (columns 1 – 5): International Energy Agency
CO2 intensity (columns 1 – 3)
CO2 intensity measures the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of GDP (kg CO2/2010 USD).
Total Mt CO2 emissions, 2016 (column 4)
Tons CO2 emissions per capita, 2016 (column 5)
Percent change from 2000 to 2016: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Changes in CO2 emissions, in percent: CO2 net emissions/removals with LULUCF.
Greenhouse Gas emissions per capita: OECD
Total GHG excluding LULUCF per capita, thousands of kg. 2020.
NOTES
“We Have Released a Monster: Previously Frozen Soil Is ‘Breathing Out’ Greenhouse Gases” Dahr Jamail
December 28, 2016.
Climate feedback loop in which the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere causes the soil to warm up is allowing for soil respiration to release additional CO2 and methane into the atmosphere.