This dataset represents the annual greenhouse gas emissions produced by the City of Boston from 2005 to 2021. The annual inventory is based on a combination of direct data and estimates for data that cannot be obtained directly. Data sources vary, and include City records, utility company reports, and information from state and federal agencies. Reporting is separated into community-wide and local government operations inventories. Because the data for these inventories is collected using separate protocols on separate timescales, the Local Government Operations Inventory should be considered to be overlapping, but not completely contained within the Citywide Inventory.

You can view the inventory report on the City's main website.

Note: We reviewed our community methodology and updated emissions data across the 2005-2021 period accordingly. Please contact environment@boston.gov if you would like to access past datasets or discuss the methodology.

Introduction

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Statistics: One of the most important things to understand when we stress the word climate change is greenhouse gas emissions. These are gases released into the atmosphere by human activities and natural processes that trap heat and warm our planet. Scientists track these emissions carefully, and all the numbers, percentages, and comparisons are what we call greenhouse gas emissions statistics.

Why should you care about these statistics? Because they tell the story of how our energy use, farming, transportation, and industries are affecting the environment badly. For example, when we burn coal for electricity or drive cars, we release carbon dioxide (C02). When cows digest food or rice paddies grow, methane (CH4) escapes into the air. Even tiny amounts of man-made gases, like those used in air conditioners, can trap a lot of heat.

By looking at these greenhouse gas emissions statistics, we can understand which countries, sectors, and activities contribute the most to climate change. These numbers help governments, scientists, and even you make decisions about reducing emissions and protecting our planet.

In this article, I'm going to break down the most recent greenhouse gas emissions statistics. We’ll look at global emissions, country-wise contributions, different types of gases, and which sectors are responsible for the largest share. We’ll also see trends, mitigation efforts, and future projections, all explained in this context.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear picture of how greenhouse gas emissions pollute our planet, why they are increasing, and what can be done to reduce them. Let’s get into it.

The emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro-fluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride, nitrogen trifluoride and total greenhouse gas emissions, by industry (SIC 2007 group – around 130 categories), UK, 1990 to 2023 and (provisional) 2024.

In 2022, total gross greenhouse gas emissions in the United States were **** billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e). Although this was the second consecutive year that U.S. GHG emissions increased, they remained below pre-COVID 19 levels. The U.S. has set the target of achieving a 50 to 52 percent reduction in economy-wide emissions by 2030, relative to 2005 levels. As of 2022, gross GHG emissions were **** percent lower than they were in 2005.

The National Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory contains information on direct emissions of greenhouse gases as well as indirect or potential emissions of greenhouse gases through fuels combustion or oxidation, plus releases from storage or sequestration facilities, compiled on an annual basis. Substance classes principally include include CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. The 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Act are the statutory basis behind this data. Reporting includes nine sectors. Data is contributed by reporting industrial and commercial sources of more than 25,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year. It is also estimated and modeled for transportation and other sources which are geographically distributed.

This tool to gives you access to greenhouse gas data reported to EPA by large facilities and suppliers in the United States through EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The tool allows you to view data in several formats including maps, tables, charts and graphs for individual facilities or groups of facilities. You can search the data set for individual facilities by name or location or filter the data set by state or county, industry sectors and sub-sectors, annual facility emission thresholds, and greenhouse gas type. For more information on the GHG Reporting Program and this data, please visit https://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United Kingdom were equivalent were estimated to have dropped *** percent in 2024, to ***** million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO₂e). This represents a ** percent emissions reduction when compared to 1990 levels. Why are emissions falling in the UK? One of the biggest contributing factors for declining UK territorial GHG emissions has been the phasing out of coal use and the shift toward cleaner energy sources. This transition has seen UK electricity supply emissions fall by more than ** percent since 1990. Sources of emissions in the UK The most polluting sector in the UK is the transportation sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of the country's GHG emissions. The millions of passenger cars on the road are the primary source of UK transport emissions, followed by commercial heavy-duty vehicles.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks collects greenhouse gas emissions data from regulated facilities under Ontario Regulation 390/18: Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Quantification, Reporting and Verification using the quantification methods in the incorporated Guideline for Quantification, Reporting and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

The emissions reports serve as a baseline for the ministry and interested parties to understand emissions profiles and are a valuable tool for reporters to manage and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. For information on Ontario’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program please visit our program webpage.

Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions using the Chow-Lin regression-based temporal disaggregation method, quarterly data.

These statistics will be based on the energy statistics in BEIS’s quarterly Energy Trends publications, and will enable trends in UK emissions to be monitored on a more regular basis. Each release will report on emissions in the most recent four quarters, and will include a weather-corrected series alongside the actual emissions series.

Following a user consultation, the quarterly greenhouse gas emissions statistics published on 29 September for Q2 2016 will be the final release of these statistics. However, a quarterly time series will be included within the annual provisional emissions statistics publication, which is published each year in March.

Source agency: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Designation: Official Statistics Language: English Alternative title: UK GHG emissions quarterly statistics

China was the world's largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, having released almost ** billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e). China's GHG emissions in 2023 were almost equal to the combined emissions of the United States, India, the European Union, and Russia. Together, these five economies accounted for roughly ** percent of global GHG emissions in 2023.

Global greenhouse gas emissions amounted to roughly 57 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e) in 2023. The power sector was the biggest global contributor to GHG emissions that year, with a share of 26 percent. The majority of emissions from electricity production come from coal-fired power plants. Transportation was the second-largest source of global GHG emissions in 2023, with road vehicles the biggest polluters.

The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) collects information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually from facilities across Canada. It is a mandatory program for those who meet the requirements. Facilities that emit 10 kilotonnes or more of GHGs, in carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (eq.) units, per year must report their emissions to Environment and Climate Change Canada. The emissions data is available in two files, each presenting emissions by different breakdowns and offered in two convenient formats for downloads: .xlsx and .csv. The Emissions by Gas file, covering data from 2004 to present, contains emissions (in tonnes and tonnes of CO2 eq.) for each facility categorized by gas type, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). The Emissions by Source file, starting from 2022, includes emissions data (in tonnes and tonnes of CO2 eq.) broken down by source category, encompassing Stationary Fuel Combustion, Industrial Process, On-site Transportation, Waste, Wastewater, Venting, Flaring, and Leakage. For additional information and usage guidelines, please refer to the accompanying "Lisez Moi - Read Me" file. Additionally, our data search tool can assist you in efficiently navigating and extracting specific information from the GHGRP's data. Supplemental Information Learn more about the GHGRP: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/facility-reporting.html Overview of Reported Emissions - An annual summary report of the facility-reported emissions and trends: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/facility-reporting/data.html Canada's Greenhouse Gas Emissions: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions.html Contact us: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/greenhouse-gas-emissions/contact-team.html

These statistics will be based on the energy statistics in BEIS’s quarterly Energy Trends publications, and will enable trends in UK emissions to be monitored on a more regular basis. Each release will report on emissions in the most recent four quarters, and will include a weather-corrected series alongside the actual emissions series. Following a user consultation, the quarterly greenhouse gas emissions statistics published on 29 September for Q2 2016 will be the final release of these statistics. However, a quarterly time series will be included within the annual provisional emissions statistics publication, which is published each year in March. Source agency: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Designation: Official Statistics Language: English Alternative title: UK GHG emissions quarterly statistics

This dataset contains data reported to Ecology as of January 24, 2025. This dataset contains both reported and covered emissions. Some of these emissions have been third-party verified, if the emissions reports meet third-party verification requirements. The remaining reported emissions are preliminary and have not been fully verified by Ecology. This information is subject to change. Certain large reporters are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions to Ecology beginning with the 2012 emissions year. Reporters that emit at least 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of greenhouse gases per year in Washington are required to report in accordance with WAC 173-441. Covered emissions are calculated pursuant to WAC 173-446 for entities that are covered under the Climate Commitment Act’s (CCA) Cap-and-invest Program. Some reporting entities and their previously reported emissions have been removed from the dataset as Ecology screening and third-party verification have shown their previous reports were incorrect, and that their updated reports demonstrate that they are below the reporting threshold, and that they are no longer in the reporting program. This dataset does not include all of Washington’s emissions. See the Washington State Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (Tracking greenhouse gases - Washington State Department of Ecology) for statewide emissions totals. Emissions are in units of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents using AR4 global warming potentials as specified in WAC 173-441.

Context

This complete CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions dataset is a collection of key metrics maintained by Our World in Data. It is updated regularly and includes data on CO2 emissions (annual, per capita, cumulative and consumption-based), other greenhouse gases, energy mix, and other relevant metrics.

Content

• CO2 emissions: this data is sourced from the Global Carbon Project. The Global Carbon Project typically releases a new update of CO2 emissions annually.
• Greenhouse gas emissions (including methane, and nitrous oxide): this data is sourced from the CAIT Climate Data Explorer, and downloaded from the Climate Watch Portal.
• Energy (primary energy, energy mix and energy intensity): this data is sourced from a combination of two sources. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy is published annually, but it does not provide data on primary energy consumption for all countries. For countries absent from this dataset, we calculate primary energy by multiplying the World Bank, World Development Indicators metric Energy use per capita by total population figures. The World Bank sources this metric from the IEA.
• Other variables: this data is collected from a variety of sources (United Nations, World Bank, Gapminder, Maddison Project Database, etc.). More information is available in our codebook.

Acknowledgements

Our World in Data Edouard Mathieu Bobbie Macdonald Hannah Ritchie Daniel Dias

The primary greenhouse gas (GHG) sources for agriculture are nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from cropped and grazed soils, methane (CH4) emissions from ruminant livestock production and rice cultivation, and CH4 and N2O emissions from managed livestock waste. The management of cropped, grazed, and forestland has helped offset GHG emissions by promoting the biological uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) through the incorporation of carbon into biomass, wood products, and soils, yielding a U.S. net emissions of 5,903 MMT CO2 eq (million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) in 2018. Net emissions equate to total greenhouse gas emissions minus CO2 sequestration in growing forests, wood products, and soils. The report 'U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2018' serves to estimate U.S. GHG emissions for the agricultural sector, to quantify uncertainty in emission estimates, and to estimate the potential of agriculture to mitigate U.S. GHG emissions. This dataset contains zipped, tabulated data from the figures and tables, and maps of the entire report. Data are presented for Cropland Soils (N2O), Enteric Fermentation (CH4), Managed Livestock Waste (CH4 + N2O), Grazed Lands (CH4 + N2O), Rice Cultivation + Residue Burning (CH4 + N2O), Energy Use, Forests, Harvested Wood, Urban Trees, and Agricultural Soils. Please refer to the report for full descriptions of and notes on the data. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Chapter 2 Data. File Name: Chapter 2 Data.zipResource Description: This zip file contains data from all figures, maps, tables, and appendices from Chapter 2 (livestock and grazing) for the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2018. Resource Title: Chapter 4 Data. File Name: Chapter 4 data.zipResource Description: This zip file contains data from all figures, tables, and appendices from Chapter 4 (forests) for the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2018.Resource Title: Chapter 3 Data. File Name: Chapter 3 Data.zipResource Description: This zip file contains data from all figures, maps, tables, and appendices from Chapter 3 (cropland) for the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2018.Resource Title: Chapter 5 Data. File Name: Chapter 5 data.zipResource Description: This zip file contains data from all figures and tables from Chapter 5 (energy) for the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2018.Resource Title: Chapter 1 Data. File Name: Chapter 1 Data.zipResource Description: This zip file contains data from all figures and tables from Chapter 1 for the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory: 1990-2018.