Sources:
Data for "CO2 emissions" and "CO2 emissions per capita" are from UNSD Millennium Development Goals Indicators database (see: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx); data for "% change since 1990" are calculated based on MDG database.
Data for "total surface area of country" are from UNSD Demographic Yearbook
(see: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2004.htm)
Footnotes:
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The data were considerably revised according to new population estimates available at Population Division: World Population Prospects 2006, DEMOBASE extract 2007, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
- Data refer to Serbia and Montenego.
Definitions & Technical notes:
CO2 emissions from energy industry, from transport, from fuel cobustion in industry, services, households, etc. and industrial processes, such as the production of cement.
Changes in how land is used can also result in the emission of CO2, or in the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, as there is not yet an agreed method for estimating this, it is not included in the figures for CO2 emissions.
Burning of biomass such as wood and straw also emits CO2; however, unless there has been a change in land use, it is considered that CO2 emitted from biomass is removed from the air by new growth, and therefore it should not included in the total for CO2.
Data Quality:
For Annex 1 countries, data are from UNFCCC. National reporting to the UNFCCC, which follows the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines, is based on national emission inventories and covers all sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions as well as carbon sinks (such as forests). For non-Annex 1 countries, data are from estimates of CO2 emissions made by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) (see: http://cdiac.ornl.gov/). CDIAC acquires or compiles, quality assures, documents, archives, and distributes data and other information concerning carbon dioxide. The calculated country emissions of CO2 from CDIAC include emissions from consumption of solid, liquid and gas fuels; cement production; and gas flaring.
Policy Relevance:
See table on greenhouse gas emissions.
CO2 is by far the largest contributor to global warming, and the major source of CO2 is combustion of fossil fuels. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates the need for an immediate 50-70% reduction in global CO2 emissions in order to stabilise global CO2 concentrations at the 1990 level by 2100. Various policy options are available to reduce emissions, including energy efficiency measures and switching to less carbon intensive fuels, e.g. from burning coal and lignite to natural gas. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD ) held in Johannesburg in 2002 made commitments towards the urgent and substantial increase in the use of renewable non-carbon energy sources, such as wind, wave and solar power, but also including biomass. It also urged the setting-up of programmes to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns which should lead to reduced CO2 emissions. |
