Green House Gas Protocol

The sharp acceleration in CO2 emissions since 2000 of >3% y−1 (>2 ppm y−1) from 1.1% y−1 during the 1990s is attributable to the lapse of formerly declining trends in carbon intensity of both developing and developed nations. Although over 3/4 of cumulative anthropogenic CO2 is still attributable to the developed world, China was responsible for most of global growth in emissions during this period. Localised plummeting emissions associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union have been followed by slow emissions growth in this region due to more efficient energy use, made necessary by the increasing proportion of it that is exported.[24] In comparison, methane has not increased appreciably, and N2O by 0.25% y−1.

The direct emissions from industry have declined due to a constant improvement in energy efficiency, but also to a high penetration of electricity. If one includes indirect emissions, related to the production of electricity, emissions from industry in Europe are roughly stabilized since 1994.

Asia

Atmospheric levels of CO₂ continue to rise, partly a sign of the industrial rise of Asian economies led by China. Over the 2000-2010 interval China is expected to increase its carbon dioxide emissions by 600 Mt, largely because of the rapid construction of old-fashioned power plants in poorer internal provinces.

United Kingdom

The UK set itself a target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2010, but according to its own figures it will fall short of this target by almost 4%.

United States

The United States emitted 16.3% more GHG in 2005 than it did in 1990. According to a preliminary estimate by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, the largest national producer of CO₂ emissions since 2006 has been China with an estimated annual production of about 6200 megatonnes. China is followed by the United States with about 5,800 megatonnes. However the per capita emission figures of China are still about one quarter of those of the US population.

Relative to 2005, China's fossil CO₂ emissions increased in 2006 by 8.7%, while in the USA, comparable CO₂ emissions decreased in 2006 by 1.4%. The agency notes that its estimates do not include some CO₂sources of uncertain magnitude. These figures rely on national CO₂ data that do not include aviation. Although these tonnages are small compared to the CO₂ in the Earth's atmosphere, they are significantly larger than pre-industrial levels.

Statistics

List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita
This is a list of countries ranked by greenhouse-gas emissions per capita in 2000. It is based on data for carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbon, hydrofluorocarbon and sulfur hexafluoride emissions compiled by the World Resources Institute (WRI) from a variety of sources, including CDIAC and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Bunker-fuel emissions are not included.

Two sets of per capita emissions are given, one with an estimate of the effects of land-use change (for example, cutting down forests) and one without. The former is based on regional estimates in Houghton (2003). Difficulties with determining rates of deforestation and the magnitude of carbon stocks held by the remaining forests and with distributing regional carbon fluxes among individual countries mean that the land-use change components have a large margin of error, perhaps as large as +/-150% in some cases. They are included here because, although difficult to quantify accurately at a country level, land-use change is a significant contributor to global warming. The WRI estimates that it accounted for almost a fifth of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2000.

Per capita responsibility for current atmospheric CO₂ level, including land-use change

1. Compatible land-use change data not available.
2. Compatible PFC, HFC and SF6 data not available.
3. Includes Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands. The WRI is ambiguous about which components are included for these additional territories. The non-land-use CO₂ data includes all three; CH₄, N₂O, PFC, HFC and SF₆ data are included for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands but not for Guam; land-use change may or may not be included for any of the three.
4. Not including the Netherlands Antilles.
5. Not including Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.
6. Including the Canary Islands.
7. Including San Marino and the Vatican City.
8. Including Monaco; not including Overseas Departments or French Polynesia.
9. Including the Azores and Madeira.
10. Including Liechtenstein.
11. Average annual forest cover change as percentage of national total 1990-2000: Belize -2.3%, Uruguay +5.0%.
    
    Source: FAO.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions_per_capita