The national GHG inventories of five GCC states from their first Biennial Transparency Reports: totals, sectors, gases, methane sources and trends, compared side by side.
Introduction
Until 2025, comparing GCC emissions meant relying on estimates from international databases or national reports prepared at different times on different methods. The first Biennial Transparency Reports changed that. Five GCC states have now published national greenhouse gas inventories under the Paris Agreement’s common rules, with the data in standard Common Reporting Tables.
We read the tables for all five, and Kuwait’s older inventory, to answer a simple question: where do Gulf emissions come from?
The totals
| Inventory years | Latest year | Total excl. land use (MtCO2e) | Total incl. land use (MtCO2e) | Change, first to latest year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 2019 to 2021 | 2021 | 716.1 | 708.6 | +6.8% (2019 to 2021) |
| UAE | 2019 to 2022 | 2022 | 201.8 | 195.2 | -0.8% (2019 to 2022) |
| Qatar | 2019 to 2023 | 2023 | 118.8 | Land use not estimated | +5.0% (2019 to 2023) |
| Oman | 2020 to 2022 | 2022 | 95.7 | 94.9 | +12.5% (2020 to 2022) |
| Bahrain | 2017 to 2022 | 2022 | 38.8 | Land use not estimated | +15.2% (2017 to 2022) |
| Kuwait | 1994, 2000, 2016 | 2016 | 86.3 | 86.3 | Not comparable: older IPCC methods and warming values, no BTR |
All five BTR inventories use IPCC AR5 100-year warming values. The latest years differ, so totals should be compared with the year stated. Saudi Arabia’s total is about 3.5 times the UAE’s and six times Qatar’s.
Where the emissions come from
Shares of the national total excluding land use, latest year.
| Energy | of which energy industries | of which transport | Industrial processes | Waste | Methane | F-gases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 80.9% | 46.5% (public power and heat 42.9%) | 18.9% | 11.8% | 6.2% | 8.1% | Not reported |
| UAE | 81.3% | 47.8% | 15.4% | 14.7% | 2.8% | 4.8% | 3.2% |
| Qatar | 89.5% | 67.5% (gas processing and other 45.3%; public electricity 20.9%) | 10.4% | 8.4% | 1.6% | 2.0% | Not reported |
| Oman | 55.3% | 17.2% | 15.2% | 33.2% | 11.1% | 15.0% | 8.2% |
| Bahrain | 79.9% | 35.4% | 8.7% | 16.7% | 3.3% | 8.8% | 3.6% |
Five patterns stand out.
1. Energy dominates. Energy is 80% to 90% of emissions in four of the five states. Within it, the largest block is power, water and other energy industries: close to half of national emissions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In Qatar energy industries are two thirds of the total (67.5%), and gas processing and other energy industries (45.3%) emit more than public electricity (20.9%).
2. Oman is different. Industrial processes are a third of Oman’s inventory, the highest share in the region, and fluorinated gases from industry are 8.2% of its total. That puts Oman’s transition challenge in its industrial plants as much as in its power sector.
3. Methane comes mainly from waste. Methane is 2% to 15% of national totals. Waste is the largest methane source in Saudi Arabia (73.7% of methane, with wastewater alone at 25.6 MtCO2e), Oman (72.4%), Qatar (66.4%) and the UAE (55.4%). Only in Bahrain do oil and gas leaks lead (60.8%). Methane grew in every state over the inventory period, by 4% to 13%.
4. Cooling shows up in the numbers. In the UAE, hydrofluorocarbon emissions, mostly refrigerants, rose 219% between 2019 and 2022 with cooling demand, and fluorinated gases are 3.2% of the national total. Saudi Arabia and Qatar report no fluorinated gases, using the flexibility the rules allow, so their totals exclude them.
5. Bunkers sit outside the totals. International aviation and shipping fuel is reported separately. In Oman it is 40.9 MtCO2e, equal to 42.7% of the national total; in the UAE, 20.6 MtCO2e (10.2%). Qatar does not estimate bunkers.
Per capita
Two BTRs state a population for an inventory year. On those figures, Qatar emits 39.6 tCO2e per person and Bahrain about 25.9 tCO2e per person, both for 2022. The other BTRs give population only for a non-inventory year or not at all, so we do not compute a figure for them.
Trends
Emissions rose in four of the five states over the inventory period: Saudi Arabia by 6.8% in two years, Qatar by 5.0% over four, Oman by 12.5% over two (from a 2020 low) and Bahrain by 15.2% over five, led by a 49% rise in industrial processes. The UAE fell 0.8% between 2019 and 2022. No GCC state reports a series back to 1990; every first BTR starts between 2017 and 2020.
Rising totals sit against NDCs that promise cuts or avoided emissions by 2035 and 2040. See GCC NDCs compared and what your country’s NDC means for your bank’s climate risk.
What it means for companies
National inventories are built bottom up from fuel use, industrial production and waste data, and on the same IPCC methods that underpin corporate accounting under the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1. As GCC governments improve their next inventories, they will draw more data from facilities and companies. The UAE already collects it through its federal MRV platform.
The sectors that dominate the national totals, power and water, gas processing, heavy industry, waste and cooling, are where corporate inventories, verification to ISO 14064-3 and assurance will be asked for first.
Sources: first Biennial Transparency Reports and Common Reporting Tables of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain; Kuwait’s first Biennial Update Report. All as filed with the UNFCCC and held at 2 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What are the total greenhouse gas emissions of each GCC country?
From the first Biennial Transparency Reports, excluding land use: Saudi Arabia 716.1 MtCO2e (2021), the UAE 201.8 MtCO2e (2022), Qatar 118.8 MtCO2e (2023), Oman 95.7 MtCO2e (2022) and Bahrain 38.8 MtCO2e (2022). Kuwait has not filed a BTR; its latest published inventory is 86.3 MtCO2e for 2016, on older methods that are not comparable. The latest years differ, so the totals should not be added or ranked without stating that.
Which sector emits the most in the GCC?
Energy, at 80% to 90% of national emissions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. Within energy, power, water and other energy industries are the largest block: 47.8% of national emissions in the UAE and 46.5% in Saudi Arabia, where public electricity and heat alone is 42.9%. In Qatar, energy industries are 67.5%, of which gas processing and other energy industries are 45.3%. Oman is the exception: industrial processes are 33.2% of its inventory.
Where does methane come from in the GCC?
In the national inventories, mainly from waste. Waste is the largest methane source in Saudi Arabia (73.7% of methane), Oman (72.4%), Qatar (66.4%) and the UAE (55.4%). Only in Bahrain do oil and gas fugitive emissions lead (60.8% of methane). The UAE reports most of its oil and gas fugitive emissions under refining, so its fugitive category understates them.
What are per capita emissions in Qatar and Bahrain?
Using the population each country states in its Biennial Transparency Report for the inventory year, Qatar's emissions are 39.6 tCO2e per person and Bahrain's about 25.9 tCO2e per person, both for 2022. The other BTRs do not state a population for an inventory year.