Fact Check: Is the U.S. the largest consumption-based greenhouse gas polluter in the world?
No
The U.S. is not the world’s largest consumption-based greenhouse gas polluter either in raw numbers or per capita.
“Consumption-based emissions” attributes pollution to where goods are consumed, rather than produced.
According to data from the Global Carbon Budget, in 2022, China was the largest consumption-based CO2 emitter at 10.31 gigatons. The U.S. followed with 5.64 gigatons. The large value for China is partly driven by that country having the world’s largest population: 1,412,175,000 in 2022.
In per-capita emissions, the U.S. ranked 9th while China was outside the top thirty. The three largest emitters per capita were Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that CO2 emissions in the U.S. will decrease in 2026 by 0.5%. Globally, emissions have risen from 22.73 gigatons in 1990 to 37.29 gigatons in 2022.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources:
Our World in Data Consumption-based CO₂ emissions
Our World in Data Per capita consumption-based CO₂ emissions
World Bank Population 2022
U.S. Energy Information Administration Short-Term Energy Outlook
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