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Why count consumption rather than territorial CO2 emissions
In assessing progress on climate change, a crucial question is how to count greenhouse gas emissions, whether to assess territorial emissions or consumption emissions.
Territorial emissions are those within the borders of a country (or other area), i.e. ignoring emissions generated in the production of imported goods and including emissions generated in the production of exported goods.
Consumption emissions include emissions generated in the production of imported goods, and subtract emissions generated in the production of goods that are exported.
There are compelling arguments for using consumption rather than territorual emissions in assessing progress on reducing emissions .
Progress should be assessed on the basis of consumption emissions.
Territorial emissions are those within the borders of a country (or other area), i.e. ignoring emissions generated in the production of imported goods and including emissions generated in the production of exported goods.
Consumption emissions include emissions generated in the production of imported goods, and subtract emissions generated in the production of goods that are exported.
There are compelling arguments for using consumption rather than territorual emissions in assessing progress on reducing emissions .
Progress should be assessed on the basis of consumption emissions.
In assessing progress on climate change, a crucial question is how to count greenhouse gas emissions, whether to assess territorial emissions or consumption emissions.
Terminology: territorial and consumption emissions
Territorial emissions are those within the borders of a country (or other area), i.e. ignoring emissions generated in the production of imported goods and including emissions generated in the production of exported goods.Consumption emissions include emissions generated in the production of imported goods, and subtract emissions generated in the production of goods that are exported.
The chart shows how important the choice is. It shows the changes in UK greenhouse gas emissions since 1990. It is an edited version of a chart published by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [1]:- The blue (bottom) line gives the figures that the Government quotes: just the territorial emissions, i.e. those released on the ground within the UK.
- The green (top) line shows the total including imports and exports (called 'consumption-based emissions').
Considerations in choice of accounting method
- Territorial emissions are easier to measure.
- The Rio Declaration of 1992 [2] is an international agreement that includes the principle that states should avoid the transfer of harmful activities to other states (Principle 14) - see document 113.
- The emissions from the manufacture of, say, a washing machine are generally similar regardless of where it is manufactured. It does not make sense to say that a washing machine should be treated as zero-carbon simply because it was manufactured outside the country of residence.
- A programme of "reducing emissions" by transferring manufacture of goods to another country would be nonsensical.
- Consumption emissions are a better measure of the progress of a country in ending fossil fuel use.
Groups and individuals advocating assessment via consumption emissions
- Prof Kevin Anderson, Tyndall Climate Centre, Manchester [3]
- Leeds University academics in their 2020 report commissioned by the WWF [4]
- George Monbiot & Leo Murray in an explanatory video from 2013: Carbon Omissions [5]
- Youth climate activists in their open letter [6]
- Greta Thunberg, e.g. (a) in her speech to MPs [7], and (b) in accusing the UK Government of lying (2021) [8]
- The Labout Party in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn [9].
- Extinction Rebellion protesters repeatedly [10].
Conclusion
In summary, there are compelling arguments for using consumption rather than territorial emissions in assessing progress on reducing emissions .Progress should be assessed on the basis of consumption emissions.
References
| [1] | 2021 UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Final Figures (Feb 2023) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, edited from Figure 1 on page 5 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63e131dde90e07626846bdf9/greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release-2021.pdf |
| [2] | https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_CONF.151_26_Vol.I_Declaration.pdf |
| [3] | https://twitter.com/KevinClimate/status/1039931085986181122 |
| [4] | WWF/University of Leeds (Mar 2020) https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-04/FINAL-WWF-UK_Carbon_Footprint_Analysis_Report_March_2020%20%28003%29.pdf |
| [5] | George Monbiot & Leo Murray (2013) Carbon Omissions: how the UK outsourced its carbon footprint https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2013/apr/24/carbon-omissions-uk-footprint-animation |
| [6] | Fridays for Future members Face the climate emergency Open letter (Jul 2020) https://climateemergencyeu.org/ |
| [7] | Greta Thunberg (2019) Can you hear me? (speech to MPs) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/23/greta-thunberg-full-speech-to-mps-you-did-not-act-in-time |
| [8] | Greta Thunberg accuses the UK of lying about its climate success ahead of COP26 (2021) https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/greta-thunberg-cop26-climate-change-emissions-carbon-footprint-1159154 |
| [9] | Corbyn pledges Labour transparency on UK carbon footprint (Jul 2019) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/14/climate-crisis-carbon-emissions-leakage-labour-party-corbyn |
| [10] | Extinction Rebellion protesters have repeatedly pointed out that the Government's claims of large emission reductions are based on omitting aviation, shipping and emissions embodied in imports, e.g. Rupert Read as part of a delegtion meeting Michael Gove, May 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMGqP5rP8v8 (at 15 mins) |
First published: 4 Jun 2023
Last updated: 3 Jan 2025 Page No 31