CO₂ emissions

Carbon dioxide emissions are the primary driver of global climate change. It's widely recognized that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the world needs to urgently reduce emissions. But, how this responsibility is shared between regions, countries, and individuals has been an endless point of contention in international discussions.

This debate arises from the various ways in which emissions are compared: as annual emissions by country; emissions per person; historical contributions; and whether they adjust for traded goods and services. These metrics can tell very different stories.

We teamed up with the YouTube channel Kurzgesagt to produce a video that explored these different metrics in detail: ‘Who is responsible for climate change? – Who needs to fix it?’.

This page is just one in our collection of work on CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions where you can explore emissions of other greenhouse gases; where our emissions come from; what trajectories of future emissions look like; and what is driving emissions across the world.

You can also download our complete Our World in Data CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions database.

Other research and writing on CO₂ emissions on Our World in Data:

• Many countries have decoupled economic growth from CO2 emissions, even if we take offshored production into account
• How do CO2 emissions compare when we adjust for trade?
• Global inequalities in CO2 emissions