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UK greenhouse gas emissions statistics

This page brings together official statistics on UK greenhouse gas emissions and related publications.

From:
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Published
11 February 2015
Last updated
8 February 2023 — See all updates

Three different measures of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are available:

  • territorial emission estimates (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)) show emissions within the UK’s borders. These are taken from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, a consistent time series of UK greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 onwards
  • UK carbon footprint estimates (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)) show all emissions associated with UK consumption, regardless of where they occur in the world
  • ‘residence’ based emissions estimates published in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK Environmental Accounts include emissions from UK residents and UK-registered businesses, regardless of whether they are in the UK or overseas

The ONS has published an article that compares these different measures of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in more detail.

For information on emissions conversion factors please visit government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.

Territorial emissions statistics annual timetable

  • Final territorial emissions statistics based on the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory are published here each February. They provide the latest annual emissions estimates and help the UK to monitor its progress towards:
  • provisional statistics are published here each March, and provide an early indication of trends in emissions nearly a year ahead of the final statistics publication
  • estimates of emissions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (known as the devolved administration greenhouse gas inventories) are published each June on the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) website, with a precise date announced on the NAEI website in advance
  • local authority emissions statistics are published each June, allowing local authorities to monitor their progress against any local level targets
  • projections of future emissions are produced annually and help to monitor the progress being made to meet the UK’s carbon budgets

Territorial emissions statistics

Devolved administration greenhouse gas inventories

Other technical reports

More detailed information about the latest territorial estimates is available in the latest National Inventory Document (also known as the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory Annual Report) in the Reports section of the NAEI website.

Supplementary technical reports relating to greenhouse gas emissions include the following:

Discontinued statistics

Until 2016 the then Departments of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published quarterly territorial greenhouse gas emission estimates based on provisional energy use data. These statistics are no longer published in this format, but quarterly emissions estimates can still be found in the provisional UK greenhouse gas emission statistics published each March.

Updates to this page

Published 11 February 2015
Last updated 8 February 2023 + show all updates

  1. Old document series removed, latest versions added, contact details updated.

  2. Annual statement of emissions for 2016 published.

  3. Link to National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory factsheets added

  4. Annual statement of emissions for 2015.

  5. Latest annual emissions staement published.

  6. First published.

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