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Environment · East Asia & Pacific · Lower-middle income

Papua New Guinea: environment and emissions

CO₂ per person is 0.52 t (2024), 161st of 203 in the world and 28th of 37 in East Asia & Pacific. GHG per person is 1.02 t (2024), 183rd of 203 in the world and 28th of 37 in East Asia & Pacific. GHG emissions is 10.8 Mt (2024), 140th of 203 in the world and 19th of 37 in East Asia & Pacific.

CO₂ per person0.52 t2024 · world 161/203 · region 28/37GHG per person1.02 t2024 · world 183/203 · region 28/37GHG emissions10.8 Mt2024 · world 140/203 · region 19/37CO₂ emissions5.5 Mt2024 · world 132/203 · region 19/37
CO₂ per person
Papua New GuineaEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
0.02.04.06.08.0199520002005201020152020Papua New Guinea0.52 tEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
GHG per person
Papua New GuineaEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
0.02.55.07.510199520002005201020152020Papua New Guinea1.02 tEast Asia & PacificLower-middle incomeWorld
15 indicators

Environment: Papua New Guinea in detail

Latest reported value, world rank and rank within East Asia & Pacific; values around 2000, 2010, 2020; group and world columns are World Bank aggregates.

IndicatorLatestWorld rankIn region~2000~2010~202010-year changeRegionIncome groupWorldSince 2000
CO₂ per personCO₂ emissions per capita, tonnes0.52 t2024161/20328/370.53 t0.55 t0.56 t−20%since 20147.35 t1.60 t4.69 t
GHG per personGreenhouse gas emissions per person, t CO₂e1.02 t2024183/20328/371.28 t0.99 t1.03 t−9.6%since 20149.06 t2.58 t6.36 t
GHG emissionsTotal greenhouse gas emissions excl. land use, Mt CO₂e10.8 Mt2024140/20319/377.1 Mt7.5 Mt10.1 Mt+12%since 201421,426.8 Mt7,482.1 Mt53,206.4 Mt
CO₂ emissionsCO₂ emissions, total excl. land use, Mt5.5 Mt2024132/20319/372.9 Mt4.2 Mt5.5 Mt−1.3%since 201417,388.8 Mt4,634.0 Mt39,632.7 Mt
MethaneMethane emissions, Mt CO₂e3.7 Mt2024136/20318/372.6 Mt1.8 Mt3.1 Mt+48%since 20142,697.1 Mt2,116.0 Mt9,536.5 Mt
Renewable energyRenewable energy, % of final energy consumption54.6%202243/2122/3766.4%55.2%53.6%−0.9 ppsince 201214.8%43.3%19.7%
Renewable powerRenewable electricity, % of output40.0%202173/2069/3541.5%41.9%39.9%+2.9 ppsince 201125.9%24.8%27.8%
PM2.5 exposurePM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure, µg/m³14.1 µg/m³2023126/20014/3315.4 µg/m³16.5 µg/m³13.3 µg/m³−8.5%since 201327.3 µg/m³49.6 µg/m³32.9 µg/m³
Forest coverForest area, % of land area75.2%202410/2145/3576.0%75.5%75.2%−0.3 ppsince 201427.3%30.2%31.1%
FarmlandAgricultural land, % of land area3.1%2024202/21033/362.4%2.8%3.1%+0.2 ppsince 201446.8%43.0%36.9%
Arable landArable land, % of land area0.7%2024190/20629/340.5%0.7%0.7%±0.0 ppsince 20148.7%18.3%10.7%
Protected areasTerrestrial and marine protected areas, % of territory0.7%2025184/21327/36··0.7%±0.0 ppsince 201522.0%12.4%17.0%
Water withdrawalsFreshwater withdrawals, % of internal resources0.0%2022176/17720/200.0%0.0%0.0%±0.0 ppsince 201212.1%16.3%9.0%
Freshwater per personRenewable internal freshwater per person, m³78,505 m³20225/1831/23144,662 m³104,932 m³81,604 m³−21%since 20124,306 m³2,496 m³5,393 m³
Cereal yieldCereal yield, kg per hectare4,787 kg/ha202449/1798/244,024 kg/ha4,344 kg/ha4,778 kg/ha+1.3%since 20145,430 kg/ha3,366 kg/ha4,229 kg/ha
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)“·” — no value reported within two years of that date. World rank counts countries with a recent value.

Better than ten years ago

Worse than ten years ago

Only indicators where higher or lower is clearly better are rated (for example, unemployment down is better, life expectancy up is better).

neighbours

Papua New Guinea and its neighbours

Countries sharing a land border with Papua New Guinea. Latest values since 2005; the highest in each row is marked.

IndicatorPapua New GuineaIndonesiaAustraliaSolomon IslandsMicronesia
CO₂ per person0.52 t20242.87 t202414.10 t20240.38 t20240.00 t2024
GHG per person1.02 t20244.67 t202421.75 t20240.76 t20240.54 t2024
GHG emissions10.8 Mt20241,323.8 Mt2024591.5 Mt20240.6 Mt20240.1 Mt2024
CO₂ emissions5.5 Mt2024812.2 Mt2024383.4 Mt20240.3 Mt20240.0 Mt2024
Methane3.7 Mt2024429.5 Mt2024144.6 Mt20240.3 Mt20240.0 Mt2024
Renewable energy54.6%202220.2%202112.3%202150.1%20222.0%2022
Renewable power40.0%202115.5%202126.7%20216.6%20214.9%2021
PM2.5 exposure14.1 µg/m³202320.8 µg/m³20236.4 µg/m³20239.8 µg/m³20233.5 µg/m³2023
Forest cover75.2%202450.7%202417.4%202489.8%202492.1%2024
Indonesia: environmentAustralia: environmentSolomon Islands: environmentMicronesia: environment
Environment in East Asia & Pacificall 37 economies rankedEnvironment: lower-middle-income countries47 economies rankedEnvironment: world leaderboardstop and bottom countriesPapua New Guinea: all key statisticscountry profile