Trends, Dynamics and Implications of Green House Gases Emissions in India (1951-2022): An Overview

Abstract

Greenhouse gases emissions are key driver of climate change. Long term trends and dynamics analysis of theses emissions are essential for study of climate mitigation efforts. This study provides detailed and descriptive analysis of India’s greenhouse gas emissions for 1951–2022 time period. This analysis is based on three major indicators- total GHGs emissions, per capita emission, and carbon intensity measured as CO₂ emissions per GDP unit. Time series analysis, year on year percentage change and five year rolling averages are used to study and examine long term trends and short term fluctuations. Analysis results show that total emissions increased from about 0.85 billion tons in 1951 to more than 4.0 billion tons in 2022. While per capita emissions reached from nearly 1.5 tons to nearly 2.85 tons. And, carbon intensity peaked in 1990s at around 0.35 kg per dollar and declined to near 0.27kg per dollar by 2022[data source: Global Carbon Budget (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data]. Result shows that India has improved its carbon efficiency but total emission continue to rise.