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The Claim

Australia’s per-capita greenhouse gas emissions exceed 20 tCO2e in OECD datasets.

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The Short Version

Official OECD greenhouse-gas indicators place Australia above 20 tCO2e per person. OECD sources report roughly 22.4 tCO2e for 2018, and OECD-based 2023 compilations are also around 22. Lower figures cited elsewhere usually measure CO2 only, not total greenhouse gases, so they do not refute the claim.

Caveats

  • Do not confuse total greenhouse gas emissions with CO2-only per-capita emissions; the latter are lower and answer a different question.
  • The commonly cited OECD AIR_GHG per-capita measure typically excludes land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF).
  • Year and accounting framework matter: territorial emissions, greenhouse-gas footprints, and CO2-only series are not interchangeable.

The Receipts

  1. Air and GHG emissions

    OECD

  2. Global per capita greenhouse gas emissions 2023, by OECD country

    Statista

  3. Australia | OECD Regional Outlook country note (climate section)

    OECD

  4. Greenhouse gas emissions by source (OECD Environment Statistics)

    OECD

  5. Australia - CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Country Profile

    Our World in Data

  6. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita in OECD

    TheGlobalEconomy.com

  7. Greenhouse gas footprint indicators

    OECD

  8. How Australia compares to the rest of the world on CO2 emissions

    SBS News

  9. WP1_8.pdf

    The Australia Institute

  10. Convergence of CO2 emissions in OECD countries

    VinUniversity Center for Economics and Innovation

+ 4 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

AustraliaOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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