The World Resources Institute has published a global history of carbon dioxide emissions, which includes interactive charts showing how the highest-emitting countries and regions have shifted over time.
An editor’s note from the World Resources Institute: This article was originally published in 2014. It was updated in June 2024 with the latest data on global carbon dioxide emissions from Climate Watch.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from human activities are now higher than at any point in our history. In fact, recent data reveals that global CO2 emissions were 182 times higher in 2022 than they were in 1850, around the time the industrial revolution was underway.
How did we arrive at such an unprecedented and precarious state? To answer this and other key questions, we analyzed the latest emissions data from WRI’s Climate Watch platform. In addition to countries’ historical emissions trends, we looked at major drivers of increasing emissions, such as population growth, economic development and energy use.
For context, the United Kingdom was the world’s largest CO2 emitter in 1850, the first year of available data. Its emissions were nearly six times those of the United States, the second-ranked country at the time. France, Germany and Belgium completed the list of the top five emitters.
As of 2022 — the latest data available — China ranked as the world’s largest CO2 emitter, followed by the United States, India, Russia and Japan. However, among the top 10 CO2 emitters, the United States has the highest emission per person. Per capita emissions in the U.S. are double those of China and 8 times those of India.
“The History of Carbon Dioxide Emissions,” By Leandro Vigna, Johannes Friedrich and Thomas Damassa, World Resources Institute, June 2, 2024.
Read the full article, including interactive charts, at this link.
