Historical contributions of CO2 emissions
Historical contributions of CO2 emissions vary substantially across regions in terms of total magnitude, but also in
terms of contributions to CO2-FFI and net CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (CO2-LULUCF).
In 2019, around 35% of the global population live in countries emitting more than 9 tCO2-eq per capita11 (excluding
CO2-LULUCF) while 41% live in countries emitting less than 3 tCO2-eq per capita; of the latter a substantial share lacks
access to modern energy services. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have
much lower per capita emissions (1.7 tCO2-eq and 4.6 tCO2-eq, respectively) than the global average (6.9 tCO2-eq),
excluding CO2-LULUCF. The 10% of households with the highest per capita emissions contribute 34–45% of global
consumption-based household GHG emissions, while the bottom 50% contribute 13–15%. (high confidence) {2.1.1,
Sample Answer
Historical contributions of CO2 emissions vary substantially across regions. The countries that have emitted the most CO2 historically are also the ones that are most developed today. This is because industrialization and economic growth have been major drivers of CO2 emissions. The top 10 emitters of CO2 from 1850 to 2019 are:
- China
- United States
- European Union
- Russia
- India
- Japan