How are we tracking emissions by country? One easy way is to take the numbers reported by each nation, but is it the right way to look at it?
We need to consider several lenses e.g. size of the country/population, GDP and the extent of import emissions. There is a striking contrast between country consumption (related to GDP) and country GHG emission, driven by the fact that countries import mean GHG emitted in other countries.
In 2011, Stanford Kay published a representative ‘footprint’ comparison of total carbon dioxide emissions by nation and per capita showing there’s plenty of room for smaller countries to reduce their carbon footprints.
Although this data is from 2011, the trends are likely still similar today, as seen through more recent data from the World Emission Clock. Smaller nations continue to have the potential to reduce emissions, while larger economies still contend with emissions tied to imports.
For up-to-date data & simulation, we can refer to the World Emission Clock, where we can find out more about emissions by country, and sector (by capita/income). You can also check how we are doing against the global carbon budget
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