The UNFCCC GHG data interface is a simple but powerful and user-friendly online tool that is designed to provide access to, search and sort available GHG inventory data submitted by countries that are Parties to the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.

Two different sets of data are made available on the data interface: one is data under the Convention, and the other is data under the Kyoto Protocol.

Under the Convention, data include anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks. The data also include activity data and implied emission factors by gas for all source categories. The GHG emission inventories are developed by Parties using methodologies agreed upon by the Conference of Parties. Annex I Parties base their GHG emissions inventories on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, whereas non-Annex I Parties base their GHG emission inventories on the IPCC Revised 1996 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. In addition, the GHG data interface also includes data on population, gross domestic product (GDP) and country area.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, data are presented for the first commitment period, including GHG emissions from sources included in Annex A of the Kyoto Protocol, net emissions/removals from LULUCF activities under Article 3.3 and 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol, and holdings of Kyoto Protocol units.

The GHG data are data officially reported by Parties to the UNFCCC. For non-Annex I Parties, the data are taken from their national communications and biennial update reports, and for Annex I Parties, from their annual GHG inventory submissions. The exact sources of data are provided here. The population data are provided by the Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations through the Common Database of the United Nations Statistics Division. The source of the GDP (at market prices, constant 2015 US$) data is the World Bank. The population and GDP data are displayed on the GHG data interface with kind permission of the United Nations and the World Bank; the United Nations and the World Bank have regulations concerning the use of their data and these organizations must be consulted before downloading population and GDP data for further use. The data on country area were obtained from the Statistical Database maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The main elements of the interface are:

• GHG data - UNFCCC: this page is an entry to the UNFCCC GHG data interface which provides access to the most recent GHG data reported by countries that are Parties to the Climate Change Convention
  • Time series - Annex I
  • GHG profiles
  • Detailed data by Party
  • Comparisons by gas
  • Comparisons by category
  • Flexible queries
  • User-defined indicators
  • Global map - Annex I

• KP data - UNFCCC: this is a page with GHG data relating specifically to the Kyoto Protocol; the data are as reported by Annex I Parties that are also Parties to the Kyoto Protocol
  • Second Commitment Period
    • Base year data (CP 2)
    • Compilation and accounting reports (CP 2)
  • First Commitment Period
    • Base year data (CP 1)
    • Compilation and accounting reports (CP 1)
    • Compilation and accounting data

• GHG data - non-UNFCCC: this page provides links to the web sites of various organizations that also collect, estimate and/or disseminate data on GHG emissions/removals

• Data interface help: the help page contains extensive explanatory information to assist the user in conducting queries in the different modules of the data interface to find the right GHG data

• Frequently Asked Questions: this page contains answers to typically asked questions regarding the interface and the data presented therein

• Notes on GHG data: this page contains notes regarding the data presented, highlighting certain special cases of methodologies used to prepare GHG inventories, and potential discrepancies in the data

• Contact: this page suggests an e-mail address that can be used to contact the UNFCCC secretariat for questions, clarifications or more information relating to GHG data.

To see what data are provided under each element and what element may better serve your purposes, click here.

The data published on this site correspond to the data reported by Parties according to the reporting requirement defined under the Climate Change Convention. In accordance with the reporting requirements, Annex I Parties are required to submit GHG inventories every year for the period from the base year until two years prior the submission year; non-Annex I Parties submit information on  GHG emissions/removals as a part of their national communications and biennial update reports which are submitted only periodically and for a limited number of inventory years.

The information presented on this website is updated three times a year: the first update is released in March to include resubmissions of Annex I GHG inventories for the previous year; the second one (which is the major update) in June/July to provide access to data from the annual submission of Annex I GHG inventories due by 15 April; the third update in October/November to include changes in Annex I data, if any. Non-Annex I GHG data are reported in national communications and biennial update reports, which are submitted at different points in time. Therefore, along with the update of Annex I Parties' data, available non-Annex I data are updated as well. The data from external sources, such as population, GDP and country area, are revised during the major update (June/July), provided that they have been revised by the United Nations and the World Bank.

The UNFCCC secretariat does not collect or estimate GHG emissions for the world in total. The reason is that, according to the reporting requirements under the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, the format and coverage of GHG data are different for Annex I Parties to the Convention and non-Annex I Parties, and therefore we are not able to calculate a value for the world total accurately. Estimates for global emissions are made by some other organizations (such as the International Energy Agency) and they can be found at their websites, see a list of non-UNFCCC sources of GHG data here.

GHG emissions/removals can be expressed either in physical units (such as grams, tonnes, etc.) or in terms of CO2 equivalent (grams CO2 equivalent, tonnes CO2 equivalent, etc.). The conversion factor from physical units to CO2 equivalent is the GWP of the corresponding GHG. If X Gg/kt of CH4 is to be expressed in terms of CO2 equivalent, then it is multiplied by the GWP of CH4 over 100 years timescale, which is 21 or 25 (depending on the group of Party).

Refer to the next question for the GWPs used for each group of Party.

A table with the values used for non-Annex I Parties is provided here.

A table with the values used for Annex I Parties is provided here.

In line with decision 6/CP.27, some Parties opted to use the GWPs listed in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to calculate GHG gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks in CO2 equivalent.

The most widely used units and conversion factors are:
10⁶ g = 1000 kg = 1 tonne = 1 Mg
10⁹ g = 1 Gg = 1 kt
10¹² g = 1 Tg = 1 Mt
10¹⁵ g = 1 Pg = 1 Gt

In the Comparisons by gas and Comparisons by category modules, the percentage differences are calculated as follows:

1. The difference between selected years for a Party is equal to:
   (Year2/Year 1 - 1)*100
2. The difference between selected Parties for a particular year equals:
   (Party2/Party1 - 1)*100

Such data are provided through the "Flexible queries" section. Click here to access the section for Annex I Parties and here to access the section for non-Annex I Parties.

The data interface presents GHG data in tabular and graphical forms. Many tables are also available as Excel spreadsheets. In the part with dynamic queries, all data can be exported in Excel, CSV and PDF/HTML formats.

The sources of information displayed on the data interface can be found here.