The Scale of G20 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Can the G20 summit help advance international cooperation on the environment?
December 2, 2018
1. Together the G20 countries, including the full European Union, produce 29.3 million kilotons of CO2 annually, as of 2015.
2. This is about 81% of all global CO2 emissions, which is a slightly smaller share than the group’s share of the world economy.
3. The largest emitter, in absolute terms, is China (10.6 million kilotons) and the smallest emitter is Argentina (191,000 kilotons).
4. China accounts for a disproportionately large share of global CO2 emissions, at 29.36% – nearly double its economic share.
5. For comparison, China has 18.6% of world population and 14.9% of nominal world GDP.
6. Getting the G20 governments to agree is key to securing any meaningful environmental protection agreements at the international level.
7. Pollution controls on greenhouse gas emissions or any other long-term pollutants need to happen at a multinational level to address both sources and damage.
8. The G20’s collective economic and population size, as well as their political influence, gives them the key stake in global governance on the environment.
9. G20 meetings often involve negotiations between finance ministers, foreign ministers and even heads of government/state.
10. But there are also G20 meetings among the environment ministers of the 20 governing bodies represented.
Sources: The Globalist Research Center, EDGAR