Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
The Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP) project launched in 2011 to provide regional carbon budgets at continental and oceanic scales. However, its first phase did not examine the 24 countries in the Central and West Asia region, which encompasses the Middle East, because the region’s greenhouse gas emissions are underreported.
Despite Central Asia’s role in fossil fuel production—it has provided 35% of the world’s oil, 19% of its natural gas, and 2% of its coal since 2000—many countries in the region only occasionally submitted greenhouse gas reports to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and most stopped reporting after 2015. The lack of data makes it harder to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
The RECCAP2 project was launched in 2019 to update carbon data worldwide. As part of this effort, Qin et al. quantified emissions in the Central and West Asia region for the first time. The study combined two methods: a top-down approach examining carbon dioxide from a global perspective and a bottom-up examination of data from carbon sources and sinks in the region. The authors measured carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide from 2000 to 2020, considering both human and natural carbon sources.
The findings show that the Central and West Asia region, home to about 5.9% of the world’s population in the 2010s, is a major emitter, averaging 4,234 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year—8% of global emissions in the same decade. The region contributed 10% of the world’s carbon dioxide, 7% of its methane, and 3% of its nitrous oxide.
Of the 24 countries in the region, the top 10 emitters, with Iran in the top spot, accounted for 84% of the emissions. Carbon dioxide from electricity and heat production, oil and gas extraction, industrial processes (including petroleum refining), transportation, and residential energy use made up 61% of the total greenhouse gas budget. Methane emissions from oil and gas extraction (e.g., fugitive emissions), agriculture, solid waste disposal (e.g., landfills), and ecosystems such as wetlands also accounted for a large portion of the total.
The authors noted that reliance on data from global projects and a lack of national-level data and local field observations hampered analysis. Though the findings fill a critical knowledge gap, region-specific modeling and data are needed for more accurate greenhouse gas estimates and climate mitigation strategies. (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GB008370, 2025)
—Aaron Sidder, Science Writer
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Citation: Sidder, A. (2025), The Middle East’s first comprehensive carbon budget, Eos, 106,https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250102. Published on 13 March 2025.
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