Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2016

From the “Trends in global CO2 and total greenhouse gas emissions: 2017 Report” by Olivier J.G.J. et al. (1) it is reported : “In 2016, total global greenhouse gas emissions continued to increase slowly by about 0.5% (±1%), to about 49.3 gigatonnes in CO2 equivalent (Gt CO2 eq)... the 2016 emission increase was the slowest since the early 1990s, except for global recession years.” This slowdown in growth of carbon dioxide is primarily the result of changing to natural gas from coal for electrical generation and increases in wind and solar power adoption. “Most of the emissions (about 72%) consist of CO2, but methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases account for 19%, 6% and 3%, respectively.(1)

As you can see below the United States represented about 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2016; the United States’ emissions fell (-2.0%) along with the Russian Federation (-2.1%), Brazil (-6.1%), and, within the European Union, the United Kingdom (-6.4%). China’s emissions were essentially flat at (-0.3%). In contrast, the largest absolute increases were seen in India (+4.7%) and Indonesia (+6.4%) and smaller increases in Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey and Ukraine.(1)

The US now represent 13% of World GHG emissions

US fossil-fuel emission are declining

It should be clear from the data that mankind is nowhere near on track to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases to meet the goal of keeping global temperatures within 1.5 degrees C. For more information see the link below to read the entire report. 

(1)    Olivier J.G.J. et al. (2017), Trends in globalCO2 and total greenhouse gas emissions: 2017 report. PBL NetherlandsEnvironmental Assessment Agency, The Hague.

(2)    https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=natural_gas_use