Transparency & reporting
Emission profile under the NDC
Where Malawi’s greenhouse gas emissions come from, how they have grown, and how much the country has pledged to cut them.
Two ways of counting
Reading the figures
Malawi measures its emissions in its national greenhouse gas inventory, reported to the UNFCCC. The inventory total below leaves out the forestry and other land use (FOLU) sector, because those emissions and removals are reported on their own.
The NDC 3.0 sets its targets on a wider total that includes forestry and land use. That is why the NDC’s figure for 2022 (70.8 Mt CO₂e) is much larger than the inventory’s (25.3 Mt CO₂e): emissions from deforestation and forest degradation are Malawi’s largest single source.
All figures are in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), which adds up the different gases by how strongly each warms the climate. 1 Mt is one million tonnes.
At a glance
Malawi’s emissions in 2022
- Inventory total, without forestry and land use
- 25.3 Mt
- Rise in that total since 1994
- +194%
- NDC total, with forestry and land use
- 70.8 Mt
- Cut Malawi can reach by 2035, with support
- 48%
By sector
Where the emissions come from
Share of the inventory total in 2022. Waste is the largest source, mostly from the open burning of solid waste and growing towns.
- Waste Open burning of waste alone: over 53% 63.5%
- Agriculture and land Livestock, manure and fertilised soils 22.9%
- Energy Transport, industry and household fuels 12.6%
- Industrial processes Mainly cement and lime 1.0%
By gas
Which gases
Methane dominates Malawi’s profile, from livestock, waste and flooded rice fields.
- Methane (CH₄) 77.3%
- Carbon dioxide (CO₂) 14.2%
- Nitrous oxide (N₂O) 8.5%
Over time
How emissions have grown
The inventory total for the years Malawi reported to the UNFCCC. It nearly tripled between 1994 and 2022, with population growth, farming, transport and urban waste.
- 1994 8.6 Mt CO₂e
- 2000 9.9 Mt CO₂e
- 2010 15.2 Mt CO₂e
- 2017 24.1 Mt CO₂e
- 2022 25.3 Mt CO₂e
Under the NDC 3.0
Where emissions are heading, and the pledged cuts
“Business as usual” is where emissions would go with no new action. “Own resources” are cuts Malawi pays for itself; “with support” are cuts that need international finance, technology and capacity building. Figures include forestry and land use, in Mt CO₂e.
| Year | Business as usual | With own resources | With support | With both | Cut with both |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 70.8 | – | – | – | – |
| 2025 | 91.3 | 91.3 | 91.3 | 91.3 | – |
| 2030 | 96.0 | 88.1 | 75.4 | 67.6 | 30% |
| 2035 | 101.6 | 89.0 | 65.9 | 53.3 | 48% |
| 2040 | 108.3 | 94.7 | 64.0 | 50.4 | 53% |
By sector
Pledged cuts by sector, compared with business as usual
| Sector | 2030, own resources | 2030, with support | 2035, own resources | 2035, with support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy (including transport) | 17% | 40% | 23% | 54% |
| Agriculture, forestry and other land use | 6% | 19% | 8% | 34% |
| Waste | 3% | 4% | 9% | 14% |
| Industrial processes and product use | – | 33% | – | 48% |
| National total | 8% | 21% | 12% | 35% |
The full reports
Read the inventory and the NDC 3.0
Both are published on this site, with every table and the methods behind them.