Examples where production-based emissions have stagnated whilst consumption-based CO 2 steadily increased include Ireland in the early 2000s Norway in the late 1990s and early 2000s and Switzerland since 1990.

There are some countries where this is the case. If only production-based emissions were falling whilst consumption-based emissions were rising, this would suggest it was ‘offshoring’ emissions elsewhere. These comparisons provide the answer to the question whether countries have only achieved emissions reductions by offshoring emissions intensive production to other countries. In the Additional Information you find an interactive map of how consumption-based emissions per capita vary across the world. This was the case in the past, but today, even adjusted for trade, China now has a per capita footprint higher than the global average (which is 4.8 tonnes per capita in 2017). Whilst China is a large CO 2 emissions exporter, it is no longer a large emitter because it produces goods for the rest of the world. A difference, but smaller than what many expect. On a per capita basis, the respective measures are 6.9 and 6.2 tonnes per person in 2016. The opposite is true for China: its consumption-based emissions are 14% lower than its production-based emissions. This tells us that more CO 2 is emitted in the production of the goods that Americans import than in those products Americans export.

We see that the consumption-based emissions of the US are higher than production: In 2016 the two values were 5.7 billion versus 5.3 billion tonnes – a difference of 8%. Individual maps of consumption-based annual and per capita emissions can also be found in the Additional Information which follows this post. Using the ‘change country’ toggle of the chart you can switch between them. 3 One chart shows total annual emissions, the other one shows the same on a per capita basis. In the interactive charts you can compare production- and consumption-based emissions for many countries and world regions since the first data is available in 1990. How did the differences between a country’s production and consumption-based emissions change over time? You can find these figures in absolute (tonnes of CO 2) and per capita terms for each country in the Additional Information section. We see quite a regional East-West split in net exporters and importers: most of Western Europe, the Americas, and many African countries are net importers of emissions whilst most of Eastern Europe and Asia are net exporters. The consumption-based emissions of China are 14% lower than their production-based emissions. Countries shown in blue are net exporters of emissions – they export more CO 2 embedded in goods than they import.įor example, China’s value of -14% means its net export of CO 2 is equivalent to 14% of its domestic emissions.This means emissions calculated on the basis of ‘consumption’ are 7.7% higher than their emissions based on production. Countries shown in red are net importers of emissions – they import more CO 2 embedded in goods than they export.įor example, the USA has a value of 7.7% meaning its net import of CO 2 is equivalent to 7.7% of its domestic emissions.To give a perspective on the importance of trade these emissions are put in relation to the country’s domestic, production-based emissions. In the interactive map we see the emissions of traded goods.

World carbon emissions by country