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Methods for a fair comparison

To make a meaningful comparison between countries, two points are crucial.

• The comparison must be of emissions per person. Little information is obtained from comparing the total emissions for whole countries since the largest countries have the biggest totals.
• All relevant emissions must be included, including emissions produced in the manufacture of goods that have been imported.

A summary chart and some examples are given below.

Once allowance is made for population size and imports/exports, it is clear that it is wrong to pick out China and India for censure.

Summary chart

This chart is free of copyright restrictions.

World CO2 emissions

The total was about 36 billion tonnnes CO2 in 2019 [1].
As the world population is 7.9.billion, this is 4.6 tonnes CO2 per person per year.

UK greenhouse gas emissions

Total greenhouse gas emissions were around 930 million tonnes CO2-e per year in 2015, including imports/exports and aviation [2].
As the population is 66 million, this is 14.1 tonnes CO2-e per person per year.
For CO2 emissions alone, the UK's emissions are 10 tonnes per person per year, including aviation [3].

China CO2 emissions

Emissions were 10.1 billion tonnes CO2 in 2018 [4].
Of these, around 13% were from net exports, based on 2014 figures [5].
This gives an adjusted value of 8.8 billion tonnes CO2.
As the population is 1.43 billion, this is 6.2 tonnes CO2 per person per year.

USA CO2 emissions

Emissions were 5.42 billion tonnes CO2 in 2018 [4].
The net CO2 transfers associated with trade were 6% (net imports), based on 2014 figures [5].
This gives an adjusted value of 5.8 billion tonnes CO2.
As the population is 327 million, this is 17.6 tonnes CO2 per person per year.

India CO2 emissions

Emissions were 2.65 billion tonnes CO2 in 2018 [4].
Of these, around 9% were from net exports, based on 2014 figures [5].
This gives an adjusted value of 2.41 billion tonnes CO2.
As the population is 1.35 billion, this is 1.8 tonnes CO2 per person per year.

Mozambique CO2 emissions

Emissions were 8.3 million tonnes CO2 in 2018 [4].
As the population is 29 million, this is 0.3 tonnes CO2 per person per year.

References

[1]	https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/ accessed 27.9.21

[2]	https://www.carbonindependent.org/32.html

[3]	https://www.carbonindependent.org/23.html

[4]	Global Carbon Atlas http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions

[5]	https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-worlds-largest-co2-importers-exporters

Last updated: 18 May 2023