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Colorado Greenhouse Gas Inventory

 

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Overview

In 2019, Colorado adopted Senate Bill 19-096. This law requires the CDPHE Air Pollution Control Division to publish an updated statewide Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report at least every two years.

Colorado also adopted House Bill 19-1261: Climate Action Plan to Reduce Pollution in 2019. This law established the first statewide greenhouse gas reduction goals. To coordinate actions for meeting these goals across several state agencies, the Colorado Energy Office developed the state’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap. This law also requires the air division to share an update on the state’s progress towards the reduction goals with the legislature every odd-numbered year.

In 2023, Colorado adopted Senate Bill 23-016. This law enhanced Colorado’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. It established a net-zero target for 2050 and added interim targets every five years.

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report

The purpose of the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report is to provide the most complete, accurate, precise, consistent, and comparable picture of emissions. Each report covers emissions activities within the state back to 2005 as well as projected future emissions under different policy action scenarios.

The science of climate change is rich in scope and complexity and continues to improve. Colorado uses the best available data and evaluation methods each time it updates the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Numbers and trends may change from one inventory report to the next. This is a normal part of how science works and helps ensure information becomes more accurate over time.

The air division published an executive summary of the 2025 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report in January 2026. The division also prepared a one-page overview.

Starting in 2023, each updated Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report includes past, recent, and projected emissions for the following sectors:

  • Energy.
  • Industrial Processes and Product Use.
  • Agriculture.
  • Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry.
  • Waste.

Each updated Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report uses reported data from air pollution sources and other data, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State dataset or the State Inventory Tool.

Major changes in the 2025 inventory compared to the 2023 inventory include:

  • Updates to data sources and methods, particularly for Natural Gas and Petroleum Systems and Landfills.
  • Greater reliance on facility-reported data.
  • Addition of emissions from newly quantifiable sources.
  • Recalculation of emissions for all historical years from 2005 to 2023.
  • Incorporation of the latest emissions projections.
  • Measures of progress toward goals relative to statutorily set baseline emission levels and baseline levels as recalculated by the inventory.

If you would like to access any previous inventories, including data sets or draft releases, or have any questions, email climatechange@state.co.us.

Greenhouse gas data sources

It is important to note that the development of the Colorado Statewide Greenhouse Gas Inventory is a process of continual improvement. Future reports will continue to expand the quantity and quality of data sources and methods. Each refinement comes with possible revisions to historical estimates, including updates to baseline and target years. This is a mandatory part of the process to ensure that all years are comparable in any given snapshot. 

Similarly, future projections are continually revisited to remain in sync with the latest historical estimates and policy measures.

Prior to the 2023 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, inventories primarily relied on the U.S. EPA’s State Inventory Tool. The modules used for the 2014, 2019, 2021, and 2023 inventories are available upon request.

2025 Colorado Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report supporting documents and data

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Explorer

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory Explorer complements the latest Colorado Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report, and empowers users to interact with the same data provided in the Inventory report in an intuitive and meaningful way, providing a dynamic and engaging experience. By offering an alternative visual representation of the Inventory’s data, the tool enables users to explore, analyze, and interpret the Inventory’s key findings with greater depth and clarity. This tool aims to enhance users' understanding of the complex information presented in the Inventory and will be updated in conjunction with each Inventory and/or more frequently with latest modeled projections.

Reports and updates to the Air Quality Control Commission

The division is required to update the commission annually on progress toward the emission-reduction requirements for the oil and gas sector and the industrial and manufacturing sector, per House Bill 21-1266: Environmental Justice Disproportionately Impacted Community.

Reports to the legislature

To meet the requirements of House Bill 19-1261, every odd-numbered year, the division must:

  • Track progress toward state and sector-specific greenhouse gas reduction goals.
  • Provide any updated cost-benefit or regulatory analyses developed for rules adopted to attain the goals.
  • Make recommendations on future commission rules or policies sufficient to achieve the goals.
  • Make recommendations on future legislative action to address climate change.

Read the reports:

Public participation opportunities and engagement

The division will host public meetings in spring 2026 to review the newly released 2025 Colorado Greenhouse Gas Inventory. 

Email climatechange@state.co.us to request presentation slides and meeting recordings from past public participation opportunities. Include the topic or document type in the subject line. 

Contact us

Questions? Email climatechange@state.co.us. Include the report title in the subject line.

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