1 CO₂ emissions and economic growth

As is well known, CO₂ emissions are one of the main causes of human-induced climate change. Indeed, there is an almost linear relationship between global cumulative CO₂ emissions and global warming.² Reducing emissions is thus of central importance for achieving the climate goals. In the next figure, however, you can see that, in the past, long-term increases in world production, measured as global gross domestic product (GDP), were always accompanied by an increase in CO₂ emissions.

Figure 1.1: Global production and CO₂ emissions.³

The figure shows the relationship between production and CO₂ emissions at the global level. For individual countries, the picture is very diverse. You can use the following app to look at the historical development of GDP and CO₂ emissions for various countries.

Explore the data: With this app you can explore how CO₂ emissions and production (GDP) have developed over time for various countries.

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