From the first coal-fired steam engines of the 1750s to the fossil fuel peak debate of the 2020s, PRIMAP-hist traces the greenhouse gas emissions of every nation on Earth — downloaded 74,000 times and viewed 62,000 more.
Every climate negotiation eventually arrives at the same question: who is responsible? The answer depends on how far back you look and how you count. PRIMAP-hist provides the most complete accounting available — a harmonized time series of national greenhouse gas emissions stretching from 1750 to 2024, covering CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases for virtually every country on Earth. It is the dataset that makes historical responsibility calculations possible, and it has become indispensable infrastructure for the global climate policy community.
Building a 274-year emissions record requires stitching together data sources that were never designed to be compatible. UNFCCC national inventories, the gold standard for recent decades, only begin in 1990 for most countries. Before that, estimates rely on CDIAC's fossil fuel CO₂ calculations derived from energy statistics, EDGAR's bottom-up emission factor approach, and FAO's agricultural emissions estimates. PRIMAP-hist harmonizes these sources using a priority-based composite method: where multiple estimates exist for the same country-year-gas combination, the dataset selects the most reliable source according to a documented hierarchy, then adjusts levels to ensure temporal consistency at source boundaries. The result is a seamless national time series that can be compared across countries and aggregated to global totals.
The numbers tell a stark story. Global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels have risen from near zero in 1750 to over 37 billion tons per year in 2024. But the distribution of those emissions has shifted dramatically. In 1950, the United States and Europe accounted for over 70% of cumulative CO₂ emissions. By 2024, China has become the largest annual emitter, though its cumulative share remains far smaller than the industrialized West's. These distributional questions — annual vs cumulative, per capita vs absolute, production vs consumption — are precisely why a harmonized long-term dataset matters. PRIMAP-hist does not answer the political questions, but it ensures that all parties are arguing from the same numbers.
Annual global fossil fuel CO₂ emissions in billions of tons, showing the acceleration from the Industrial Revolution through the modern era
Share of all-time cumulative fossil fuel CO₂ emissions by major emitting region, in billions of tons
| metric | this dataset | alternative | verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temporal Coverage | 1750-2024 (274 years) | 1970-2023 (EDGAR) | 5x longer |
| Gas Coverage | CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, F-gases | CO₂ only (CDIAC) | All major GHGs |
| Source Harmonization | Priority-based composite | Single source (EDGAR) | Multi-source, gap-filled |
| Country Coverage | Virtually all nations | Annex I only (some UNFCCC) | Global coverage |
| Update Frequency | Annual releases | Varies (1-3 years) | Most current |
| Downloads | 74,738 | Varies | Highly adopted |
Historical emissions data underpins the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' in UNFCCC negotiations. PRIMAP-hist provides the evidentiary basis for claims about historical responsibility and fair burden-sharing.
Remaining carbon budgets for 1.5°C and 2°C targets require accurate accounting of cumulative past emissions. PRIMAP-hist's 274-year record is the starting point for calculating how much atmospheric space remains.
Countries' Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement are assessed against historical baselines. PRIMAP-hist provides the consistent, comparable time series needed to evaluate whether nations are meeting their pledges.
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