Visualized: Global Carbon Emissions by Sector

Visualized: Global Carbon Emissions by Sector

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As extreme weather events become more frequent, understanding the sources of greenhouse gas emissions becomes more urgent.

This chart breaks down all carbon emissions by sector, with latest available data from Climate Watch for the year 2022.

Figures are in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e). One billion tCO₂e is also usually read as one gigatonne of CO₂e.

Ranked: World Carbon Emissions by Source

Global demand for energy is growing at a rapid pace.

This same energy sector accounts for 76% of global carbon emissions.

Sector	Main Category	tCO2e (2022)	% of Total
🌩️ Electricity & Heat	⚡ Energy	16.7B	33%
🚗 Transportation	⚡ Energy	8.2B	16%
🏭 Manufacturing & Construction	⚡ Energy	6.3B	13%
🏘️ Residential & Commercial	⚡ Energy	3.2B	6%
💨 Fugitive Emissions	⚡ Energy	3.1B	6%
🪖 Military Fuel Use	⚡ Energy	603M	1%
🌾 Agriculture	🌿 Agriculture & Forestry	5.9B	12%
🌳 Land-Use Change & Forestry	🌿 Agriculture & Forestry	1.3B	3%
⚙️ Industrial Processes	🏭 Industrial	3.2B	6%
🗑️ Waste	🚮 Waste	1.7B	3%
🔢 Total	N/A	50.1B	N/A

Just electricity and heat generation make up one-third of that total.

Transportation is another major source within energy, responsible for 16% of emissions, mainly from tailpipe exhaust.

Outside of energy, agriculture is another key contributor: 12% of all emissions. Methane is the primary greenhouse gas here, released by livestock and in crop cultivation.

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Wondering how emissions work by country on a per capita basis? Check out: Countries Above or Below the Global Average Per Capita Emissions for another way of looking at the same data.