Emissions
The GCC's emissions, four ways
By sector, per person, against each state's stated target, and per kilowatt-hour of electricity. Each chart draws one source and names it.
GCC emissions, all sectors
1,990 Mt CO₂e
2025, Climate TRACE; 1,784 Mt in 2015.
Power's share
24%
Of the GCC's emissions in 2025, Climate TRACE.
Highest per person
49 t per person
Qatar, 2024, all greenhouse gases, Our World in Data.
Largest fall in grid intensity
675 → 468
UAE, grams of CO₂e per kWh, 2015 to 2024.
Climate TRACE estimates emissions from observation and models; Climate Watch carries the CAIT inventory series; Our World in Data carries the Global Carbon Project's. Their totals differ by method, so each chart keeps to one source, and the three are never added together.
GCC emissions by sector
Greenhouse gases by sector, as Climate TRACE estimates them from observation and models, for the GCC or one state.
- Power
- Oil and gas operations
- Manufacturing
- Transport
- Fluorinated gases
- Waste
- Buildings
- Agriculture and mining
Mt CO₂e on the 100-year basis. Agriculture and mineral extraction are grouped together. Forestry and land use is kept out of the stack: 7.5 Mt in 2025 for this view, listed in the table.
Source: Climate TRACE, country emissions (API v6), CO₂e on the 100-year basis. Licence: CC BY 4.0. As of 2026-09-24.
Emissions per person
All greenhouse gases, or CO₂ alone, per resident of each GCC state, from Our World in Data.
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Oman
- Qatar
- Kuwait
- Bahrain
Per resident, foreign workers included, and counted where the emissions are produced: the emissions of oil, gas and petrochemicals made for export count in the state that makes them.
Source: Our World in Data, CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions (Global Carbon Project; Jones et al.). Licence: CC BY 4.0. As of 2026-09-24.
History, and a straight path to each NDC target
Each state's emissions since 2000 (Climate Watch) and, dashed, a straight line from the latest year to the level its NDC target implies. Illustrative.
Illustrative: a straight line is neither a projection nor a pathway any state has published.
- Saudi Arabia. The line ends at the NDC's reduction taken off the 2019 level of the Climate Watch series. The NDC counts this reduction against a moving baseline, so the level drawn is the amount taken off the base year, not a cap the state has set. “Saudi Arabia commits to reduce emissions by 335 mtCO2e by 2040 relative to 2019 levels.”
- UAE. The line ends at the NDC's percentage below 2019, applied to the Climate Watch series. “UAE commits to reduce emissions by 47% from 2019 levels by 2035.”
- Oman. The line ends at the NDC's percentage below 2024, applied to the base-year level the NDC itself states. “Oman commits to an absolute reduction of 33% in national total GHG emissions by 2035 relative to a 2024 base year of 93.6 MtCO2e - 7% unconditional and 26% conditional on international finance, technology transfer and capacity-building support. Equivalent absolute reductions are 6.552 MtCO2e (unconditional), 24.336 MtCO2e (conditional) and 30.888 MtCO2e (total potential).”
- Qatar. The line ends at the NDC's reduction taken off the 2019 level of the Climate Watch series. “Qatar commits to reducing its emissions by 42 MMtCO2e by 2040 compared to 2019 levels.”
- Kuwait. The target is a cut against a business-as-usual scenario the chart does not hold, so no line is drawn. “Kuwait commits to reducing its emissions by 7.4% by 2035 compared to BAU.”
- Bahrain. The NDC sets no economy-wide GHG target, so no line is drawn. “Contribution 1: Renewable energy Total installed renewable energy capacity equal to 20% in 2035. Contribution 2: Afforestation 1.8 million trees planted. Contribution 3: Mangroves 1.6 million mangrove seedlings planted.”
- History, Climate Watch (all gases, excluding land use)
- Illustrative straight path to the target
Each target is read from Climate Watch's summary of the latest NDC and applied to the Climate Watch series drawn. States measure their targets against their own inventories, so the levels are indicative.
Source: World Resources Institute, Climate Watch: historical emissions (Climate Watch series) and NDC content. Licence: CC BY 4.0. As of 2026-09-24.
Carbon intensity of electricity
Grams of CO₂-equivalent per kilowatt-hour generated in each GCC state, from Our World in Data (Ember and Energy Institute data).
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Oman
- Qatar
- Kuwait
- Bahrain
Life-cycle emissions of each source per kilowatt-hour generated, as Ember computes them.
Source: Our World in Data, energy dataset (Ember and Energy Institute data). Licence: CC BY 4.0. As of 2026-09-24.
Sources
Where every figure comes from
Four sources, each drawn on its own chart, named with its licence and the date this site read it.
| What | Publisher | Licence | As of | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emissions by sector, from 2015 | Climate TRACE, country emissions (API v6), CO₂e on the 100-year basis | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 | Publisher's page/api/data/emissions?source=climate-trace |
| Emissions per person | Our World in Data, CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions (Global Carbon Project; Jones et al.) | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 | Publisher's page/api/data/emissions?source=owid |
| Emissions history and NDC targets | World Resources Institute, Climate Watch: historical emissions (Climate Watch series) and NDC content | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 | Publisher's page/api/data/emissions?source=climate-watch |
| Carbon intensity of electricity | Our World in Data, energy dataset (Ember and Energy Institute data) | CC BY 4.0 | 2026-09-24 | Publisher's page/api/data/gcc-series?metric=carbon_intensity |