Australia overtakes U.S. in per capita CO2 emissions

Per capita CO2 emissions reveal national carbon footprints, comparing greenhouse gases from energy, transport, and coal power across developed and developing economies, informing UN climate policy, Copenhagen targets, and equity debates.

Australia has overtaken the U.S. as the biggest emitter per person of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, according to a British risk analysis firm.

The average Australian contributes 20.58 tons of CO2 to the atmosphere each year to cool homes, drive cars and generate electricity with coal, with emissions up 3% globally, the UK-based risk assessment company Maplecroft said. The U.S. fell to second at 19.78 tons per inhabitant a year while Canada was third at 18.81 tons.

The ranking indicates how much more people in wealthier nations emit than those in large developing countries, with rich nations' greenhouse gases rising in recent years, a key argument used by China and India to push for emissions cuts in the U.S., Europe and Japan as the United Nations aims to write a climate-change treaty in Copenhagen in December.

The average Chinese person emits 4.5 tons of greenhouse gases a year even as China leads in clean energy initiatives and a typical Indian 1.16 tons, according to the survey. Because of populations in excess of 1 billion, the aggregate emissions of those two countries makes them the first and fourth-biggest emitters, and China has surpassed the U.S. in CO2 in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, which ranks the U.S. second and Russia third.

China and India argue that developed nations such as the U.S., Canada and Australia must cut emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels in 2020, and that poorer countries need room to raise their greenhouse gases to allow them to develop, with India's power sector emissions a central challenge for planners.

Related News

• Electricity Forum News

• Climate Change News