Source: Energy Monitor

Excerpt:

There is no single way to measure which country globally is responsible for the most carbon dioxide emissions. One approach is to add up a country’s cumulative emissions over time. This would expose the US as the world’s largest emitter historically with a 24% share of cumulative global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and land use as of 2021.

China (14%), which is fast catching up with the US, and Russia (7%) would be next on the list, followed by former colonisers Germany and the UK – these last two would appear much lower down the ranks of if only contemporary production and consumption were considered.

Read more: Explainer: who is responsible for the world’s CO₂ emissions?