Historical CO2 emissions in Europe 1750-2020, by selected country

The industrial revolution began in the United Kingdom in 1750, well before it spread across the world. For a number of decades it was responsible for 100 percent of production based carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. At the turn of nineteenth century, other countries in Europe had begun to industrialize.

Rise in European emissions

By 1850, total carbon dioxide emissions in Germany and France had reached 255 million and 340 million metric tons, respectively. By this point the UK had emitted almost four billion metric tons of CO2 emissions. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Germany unified and experienced rapid industrialization, especially in manufacturing and motor construction. This saw emissions soared, and by 1920 Germany's CO2 emissions had surpassed 15 billion metric tons, and by 1990 it had emitted more production-based CO2 emissions into the air than the United Kingdom. As of 2019, Germany had produced more than 90 billion metric tons of territorial CO2 emissions since 1750. Since 1750, Europe has contributed approximately 33 percent of global historical CO2 emissions.

Emissions in Russia

In the east of Europe, emissions in Russia began to surge from 1950. At this point in time, Russia had emitted a sixth of the UK's cumulative emissions. However, by the turn of millennium CO2 emissions in Russia had soared to more than 80 billion metric tons. Since then, Russia has emitted roughly 1.5 billion metric tons of CO2 a year, and by 2019 had emitted a total of 114 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions.