Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Country and Economic Sector

Data underpinning the GHG emissions may have substantial uncertainties due to the range of sources used to collect the relevant data. Each source has their own list of uncertainties and users should refer to documentation from the individual data sources (CDIAC, EIA, and IEA) for a complete review of possible concerns.

The global estimates of total GHG emissions have an uncertainty of around 10%. This number is derived by looking at uncertainties of individual GHG emissions estimates. The 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report suggests that uncertainty for estimates on global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels is around 8%. Most of the GHG emissions data comes from national energy use data. . National energy use data is pooled from multiple sources and is at risk of having inaccuracies. Annual revisions of national energy data is common, which can lead to significant changes in recently reported emissions data.

The uncertainties for non-CO₂ GHG emissions like CH₄ and F-gases have “intermediate” uncertainties of 20%, and N₂O has an uncertainty as high as 60%. CO₂ emissions from land-use change and forestry have very large uncertainties of 50-75%.