Published 2026-06-13 · data 2023 · 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.
The world emitted roughly 42 gigatonnes of CO₂ in 2023, and 89% of it came from fossil fuels and industry. Land-use change added the rest. Emissions growth has slowed, but the total has yet to peak — and every year at this scale shrinks the carbon budget for staying under 2°C.
1 cell = 0.04 gigatonnes CO₂ per year (2023) (0.1% of global fossil + land-use CO₂) · 1,000 cells
Context
Fossil CO₂ has climbed from about 6 billion tonnes in 1950 to more than 35 billion tonnes a year today, while land-use emissions have drifted down. That leaves total emissions roughly stabilized over the past decade — but at a level that still demands urgent cuts.
Emissions are heavily concentrated: China alone produces more than a quarter of the global total, and China, the United States, and the EU together account for over half. Historically, the US remains the largest contributor, at around 400 billion tonnes since 1751 — almost a quarter of all historical emissions.
Since 1751 the world has emitted over 1.5 trillion tonnes of CO₂. Land and ocean sinks absorb part of each year's output, but the remainder accumulates — so the size of that 89% fossil share, and how quickly it falls, will shape whether the 2°C goal stays within reach.
Global Carbon Project 2023 fossil ~37.4 Gt + land-use ~4.6 Gt ≈ 42 Gt, rounded.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-06-13-global-carbon-budget