About PlainEmissions

Our mission is to make global greenhouse-gas emissions data transparent and comparable. PlainEmissions is a research platform, not an advocacy site. It presents the EU EDGAR v8.0 dataset (European Commission, Joint Research Centre) as plain per-country, per-sector, per-year pages, and explains how EDGAR differs from the other major datasets researchers rely on, the World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal, Climate TRACE, and UNFCCC national inventories, so journalists, analysts, and policymakers can read any single number in context.

The portal covers per-country, per-sector, per-year emissions for every country with a national greenhouse-gas inventory or a bottom-up EDGAR estimate. Time series reach back to 1970 where EDGAR coverage permits. The fact table normalizes everything to megatonnes of CO2-equivalent using IPCC AR6 GWP100 multipliers, and we retain the native unit value alongside, so methodological transparency is never sacrificed for a cleaner-looking number.

Our data

Every figure on PlainEmissions is loaded from EU EDGAR v8.0 (the EDGAR 2024 GHG release, European Commission Joint Research Centre) - bottom-up, sector-level estimates for the major economies, 1970–2023, CC BY 4.0. We reference three other authoritative datasets and explain how they differ, but they are not currently loaded into the database:

• EU EDGAR (Joint Research Centre) - loaded: Bottom-up sector-level estimates with a globally consistent model. The basis for every number on this site. CC BY 4.0.
• World Bank Climate Knowledge Portal, referenced: Country-level macro climate and emissions indicators with broad historical coverage. CC BY 4.0.
• Climate TRACE, referenced: Independent satellite + machine-learning facility-level estimates, increasingly the only check on self-reported numbers. CC BY 4.0.
• UNFCCC National Inventories, referenced: Official self-reported country submissions using IPCC reporting guidelines. The legal-record source. Public.

Methodology

We download the official EDGAR per-gas workbooks, normalize country codes to ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, fold EDGAR's IPCC-2006 source categories into a common IPCC sector hierarchy, convert each gas to CO₂-equivalent using IPCC AR6 GWP100, and store everything in long format (country × year × sector × gas) with explicit provenance per row. No interpolation, no editorializing. For full details, see our methodology page.

Why EDGAR

Single-source dashboards present national totals as if measured; they are modelled. We use EDGAR because it applies the same bottom-up method to every country, so differences across countries reflect real emission differences rather than differing national statistical practices. The other datasets, UNFCCC self-reports, Climate TRACE satellite estimates, World Bank aggregates, disagree with EDGAR in informative ways; the research and guide pages explain where and why.

Updates

EDGAR releases annually (typically Q3-Q4). PlainEmissions refreshes its database within four weeks of a major EDGAR release; the methodology page tracks the loaded vintage.

Not affiliated

PlainEmissions is not affiliated with the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Bank, Climate TRACE, or any government. We are an independent research platform presenting public-domain and open-licensed data in a more accessible format.

Who built this

PlainEmissions is published by the PlainEmissions team, an independent data-journalism effort that compiles, verifies, and contextualizes public datasets. We do not accept compensation from entities we cover and we do not engage in climate advocacy, our role is to make the underlying numbers easier to find and easier to verify.

How we publish

PlainEmissions is a small, independent data publisher, not a traditional newsroom. Country and sector totals, gas-level breakdowns, and time-series figures are loaded directly from EU EDGAR v8.0 and rendered from the database, numbers are never modified between source and page. Plain-language explainers and methodology notes are grounded in the same EDGAR source records. Our methodology page documents the full source-to-publication chain.

Disclaimer

PlainEmissions is for informational and research purposes. Greenhouse-gas data is inherently uncertain; figures should be interpreted alongside the methodological notes published by each upstream source. We do not provide policy advice, investment advice, ESG attestation, or regulatory-compliance services. Always verify important figures with the official upstream record.

Contact

For data corrections, source-attribution questions, or research-data licensing inquiries (institutional and enterprise ESG analysts), email hello@plainemissions.com or use our contact form.