earth science

List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita

List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of sovereign states and territories by per capita carbon dioxide emissions due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European Commission. The following table lists the annual per capita CO2 emissions estimates (in kilotons of CO2 per year) for the year 2023, as well as the change from the year 2000.

Key takeaways

List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of sovereign states and territories by per capita carbon dioxide emissions due to certain forms of human activity, based on the EDGAR database created by European Commission. The following table lists the annual per capita CO2 emissions estimates (in kilotons of CO2 per year) for the year 2023, as well as the change from the year 2000. The data only considers carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and cement manufacture, but not emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry Over the last 150 years, estimated cumulative emissions from land use and land-use change represent approximately one-third of total cumulative anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Emissions from international shipping or bunker fuels are also not included in national figures, which can make a large difference for small countries with important ports. Measures of territorial-based emissions, also known as production-based emissions, do not account for emissions embedded in global trade, where emissions may be imported or exported in the form of traded goods, as it only reports emissions emitted within geographical boundaries. Accordingly, a proportion of the CO2 produced and reported in Asia and Africa is for the production of goods consumed in Europe and North America. According to the review of the scientific literature conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon dioxide is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas by warming contribution. The other major anthropogenic greenhouse gases) are not included in the following list, nor are humans emissions of water vapor (H2O), the most important greenhouse gases, as they are negligible compared to naturally occurring quantities. According to Science for Policy report in 2024 by the Joint Research Centre (JRC – the European Commission's science and knowledge service) and International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2023, global GHG emissions primarily consisted of CO2, resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels (73.7%).

Per capita CO2 emissions by country/territory

The data in the following table is extracted from EDGAR - Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research.

CO2 emissions per capita embedded in global trade CO2 emissions are typically measured on the basis of ‘production’. This accounting method – which is sometimes referred to as ‘territorial’ emissions – is used when countries report their emissions, and set targets domestically and internationally. In addition to the commonly reported production-based emissions statisticians also calculate ‘consumption-based’ emissions. These emissions are adjusted for trade. To calculate consumption-based emissions, traded goods are tracked across the world, and whenever a good was imported all CO2 emissions that were emitted in the production of that good are also imported, and vice versa to subtract all CO2 emissions that were emitted in the production of goods that were exported. Consumption-based emissions reflect the consumption and lifestyle choices of a country's citizens. They are national or regional emissions that have been adjusted for trade, calculated as domestic (or ‘production-based’) emissions minus the emissions generated in the production of goods and services that are exported to other countries or regions, plus emissions from the production of goods and services that are imported.

Consumption-based emissions = Production-based – Exported + Imported emissions Consumption-based emission is therefore measured as the production-based emissions adjusted by the net import-export balance in tons of CO2 per year. Positive values of net import represent net importers of CO2; net importer countries have higher consumption-based emissions than what production-based methods would measure. Converserly, for net exporters of CO2 (countries with negative values of import-export balance), consumptions-based emissions measure lower emissions than production-based methods. The data in the following table is extracted from Our World in Data database. Sorting is alphabetical by country code, according to ISO 3166-1 alpha-3.

Notes

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita

In research: List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Climate change-related lists, Environment-related lists by country, Greenhouse gas emissions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita in simple terms?

Why does List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita.