Indicator Explorer

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Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e)

A measure of annual emissions of the six greenhouse gases (GHG) covered by the Kyoto Protocol (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphurhexafluoride (SF6)) from the energy, industry, waste, and agriculture sectors, standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values. This measure excludes GHG fluxes caused by Land Use Change Land Use and Forestry (LULUCF), as these fluxes have larger uncertainties. The measure is standardized to carbon dioxide equivalent values using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors of IPCC's 5th Assessment Report (AR5).

EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) Community GHG Database, Joint Research Centre (JRC) - European Commission, uri: https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset_ghg2032, publisher: JRC European Commission, date published: 2024; International Energy Agency (IEA), uri: https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset_ghg2032, publisher: JRC European Commission, date published: 2024

Environment: Emissions

Mt CO2eq

Annual

Sum

Methodology: EDGAR compiles data from multiple authoritative sources, including: International Energy Agency (IEA) – Energy consumption data, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – National GHG inventories, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – Agricultural emissions, World Bank & National Statistics Offices – Socioeconomic and industrial data, Scientific Literature & IPCC Guidelines – Emission factors and methodologies. EDGAR follows the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories to estimate emissions. The core equation is: ?? =??×???? Where: E = Total emissions (kg, tons, or CO2-equivalent) A = Activity data (e.g., fuel consumption, production levels) EF = Emission factor (kg of pollutant per unit of activity) Depending on the pollutant, different tiers of complexity are used: Tier 1 – Default IPCC emission factors (simple estimation) Tier 2 – Country/region-specific emission factors Tier 3 – Detailed process-based models (highest accuracy)

Anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions of global greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2) and F-gases, lead to an increase of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which in turn causes atmospheric warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere (greenhouse gas effect). Atmospheric warming leads to climatic changes causing more frequent and extreme weather events and higher temperatures globally, leading to large impacts across the globe and particularly in developing countries that often have a limited means to adapt and build resilience. The international scientific community has warned that emissions need to decline to net zero by the middle of the 21st century to limit global warming to well below a 2deg C increase and help avoid the most consequential climate change impacts. Climate change is having a disproportionate impact on developing countries and if unabated will not only reverse past development progress and hinder poverty reduction but will also make future development more costly. Country level assessments of the potential climate change impacts on specific developing countries, performed as part of the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs), show that climate change will have a significant impact on developing countries’ economies, ranging from about 0.5% of GDP for higher income developing countries to over 13% for the lowest income developing countries. The costs of partial adaptation to these changes will be significant as well -- ranging between 1 and 10% of developing countries’ GDP.

Global GHG emissions are currently not directly measurable, but approaches for their estimation exist, and numerous sources exist to supply data for this indicator. Reputable scientific organizations produce these data for use for research, policy analysis, climate negotiations, and broader public communications. The estimated accuracy from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes are quite high, as quantities of fossil fuels and other emissive materials (such as cement and steel) produced are well known. For these sectors, emissions estimates are roughly accurate to within 10% when aggregated to the global level and between 4% and 35% at the country level (Crippa et al., 2023). For non- combustion and non- industrial process emissions, the accuracy is lower. Agricultural emissions, for example, depend upon many factors including the type of crops grown and livestock raised, specific agricultural practices, and other climate and non-climate factors. For these emissions, the accuracy is lower—around 30% for CH4 and fluorinated gases (HFCs, PFCs, and SF6).

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