Oxford Study Ranks Iraq 8th Highest in Carbon Intensity Among Arab Nations

Shafaq News/ A new report by the University of Oxford has ranked Iraq as the eighth-highest Arab country in terms of carbon intensity, casting a huge spotlight on the environmental footprint of power generation in Iraq and the Arab world.

According to this study, Iraq's carbon intensity, a scale that accounts to Carbon emissions related to electricity generation alone, stood at 499 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour (gCO₂e/kWh) in 2022. This datum, while sobering, situates Iraq within the upper decile of Arab nations.

Among the Arabs, Morocco sits atop with the highest carbon intensity, measured at 610 gCO₂e/kWh. Lebanon, albeit closely trailing, records 595 gCO₂e/kWh, with Saudi Arabia not far behind at 571 gCO₂e/kWh. The succeeding nations of Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Mauritania demonstrate respective carbon intensities of 550, 544, 541, and 523 gCO₂e/kWh.

Kuwait and Bahrain -ninth and tenth, respectively- both exhibited a carbon intensity of 490 gCO₂e/kWh.

South Africa emerged as the highest carbon-emitting nation worldwide with a staggering intensity of 709 gCO₂e/kWh, followed by South Sudan at 684 gCO₂e/kWh, and Kazakhstan at 636 gCO₂e/kWh. Contrasting this, Ethiopia and Paraguay shared the spot for the least carbon-intensive nations, each at 25 gCO₂e/kWh, trailed slightly by Norway at 29 gCO₂e/kWh.