2023-06-13 · gigatonnes CO₂ per year (2023)
Fossil fuels still dominate the carbon budget
Annual CO₂ from fossil fuels and industry is tens of gigatonnes. Land and ocean sinks absorb a chunk — but emissions keep rising.
Nearly 9 in 10 tonnes of CO₂ released in 2023 came from fossil fuels and industry. Of the roughly 42 gigatonnes the world emitted that year, land-use change added the remaining 11% — and while land and ocean sinks absorb a chunk, emissions keep rising.
1 cell = 0.04 gigatonnes CO₂ per year (2023) (0.1% of global fossil + land-use CO₂) · 1,000 cells
Context
The world emitted 6 billion tonnes of CO₂ in 1950 and more than 20 billion by 1990; fossil fuels alone now account for over 35 billion tonnes a year. Growth has slowed in recent years, but emissions have yet to reach their peak.
Land-use emissions have declined slightly in recent years even as fossil emissions rose, so the global total has roughly stabilized over the past decade — though it has yet to peak.
Emissions are heavily concentrated: China alone emits more than a quarter of the global total, and China, the USA, and the EU together account for more than half. Since 1751 the world has emitted over 1.5 trillion tonnes of CO₂, with the United States responsible for almost a quarter of that historical total.
Global Carbon Project 2023 fossil ~37.4 Gt + land-use ~4.6 Gt ≈ 42 Gt, rounded.
Share and export
Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2023-06-13-global-carbon-budget