2017

The diagram below shows ‘Share of global Climate Debt‘ in 2010, 2015 and 2017 of Qatar, Iran and Kuwait (ranked 10th, 11th and 12th). The share of Qatar has increased fast along with the extreme population growth. All three countries seem to have peaked on global shares around 2015.

The following exposes the key-data in the Climate Debt calculations: Fossil CO2 Emissions, GDP, Environmental Performance, Ecological Footprint without carbon, Forest Cover, Primary Forests, Nuclear Power, Population trends and climate change financing. For comparison, France, Arab Emirates and Italy (ranked 13th, 14th and 15th in Share of global Climate Debt) are included in some diagrams.

The ‘Per capita Climate Debt‘ accumulated since 2000 of Qatar, Iran and Kuwait are $60,965, $1,433 and $28,269, respectively. The diagram below shows the trends between 2010 and 2017, with world average set at 100, of the three countries as well as of France, United Arab Emirates and Italy. The per capita Climate Debt ranking by October 2017 is shown in brackets.

The next three diagrams show Fossil CO2 Emissions from fuels and industrial processes¹, in tons per capita in decades, of Qatar, Iran and Kuwait. The green bars show the Free Emission Level² – the exceedance is the basis for calculating the national Climate Debt. The grey bars are World emissions average.

CO2 Emissions data 1990-2016 (EDGAR) has been updated October 2017.

The three diagrams below show the per capita Fossil CO2 Emissions from fuels and industrial processes¹, annually since 2000, of the three countries. The green bars show the Free Emission Level². The Qatari reductions between 2002 and 2009, and the Kuwaiti reductions between 2009 and 2014, are ridiculously unambitious considering the sickening high level of emissions.

The diagram below shows per capita GDP(ppp-$) of the six countries and the World average. The extreme wealth of Qatar is nearly 8 times greater than World average or Iran.

The next diagram shows the relative Environmental Performance of Qatar, Iran and Kuwait, with an average country set at 100. All three countries are nearby World average. [Added 25-1-2018: See the new ‘Environmental Performance Index 2018‘]

The average per capita Ecological Footprint without carbon, between 2000 and 2013, with an average World country set at 100, of Qatar, Iran and Kuwait are 136, 67 and 97, respectively. Release years are about four years after data years. Qatar’s Climate Debt would have been 1.3% smaller with World average footprint. Note that footprint calculation methods have changed over time.

Changes in Forest Cover and Primary Forests are important indicators in ClimatePositions. However, all values of the three countries are negligible, maybe except one: The Iranian Forest Cover increased from 4.9% of total land area in 1990 to 5.8% in 2015 (reducing Iran’s Climate Debt by 1%).

The per capita Nuclear Power generation 2000-2016 of the three smallest per capita generators Iran, India and Pakistan is shown below (the per capita ranking is shown in brackets). The Iranian intensions seem obvious. In the calculation of Climate Debt, Nuclear Power must be phased out similar to Fossil Fuels, calculated as if Nuclear Power was oil-generated. So far, the Iranian Nuclear generation is only responsible for 0.07% of the Climate Debt.

The diagrams below show Population density 2016 and growth between 2000 and 2016. The population growth-rate of Qatar is monstrous, even compared to the extreme rate of Kuwait. The Populations of Qatar, Iran and Kuwait are about 2.6, 80 and 4.1 million, respectively.

Finally, the table below shows four key values in the calculation of national Climate Debts in ClimatePositions of Qatar, Iran, Kuwait, France, United Arab Emirates and Italy. The price of CO2 per ton (column two) is for total CO2 Emission from Fossil Fuels (without bunkers) and industrial processes. Climate change financing (column three) is from July 2017.

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¹Fossil CO2 Emissions include all anthropogenic emissions from Fossil Fuel (combustion and production) and from industrial processes (cement, steel, liming, urea and ammonia production or consumption). The uncertainty in Fossil CO2 emissions is below 5% for industrialized countries and below 15% for developing countries.CO2 Emissions from international shipping and aviation (bunkers) are not included.

²The Free Emission Level (green bars) is determined by national CO2 Emissions 1990-1999 (base), and 11 more ‘Indicators’, of which 7 are national and 4 are global.

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Updated data and diagrams of all ‘Indicators‘ and all countries in ClimatePositions are available in the menu ‘Calculations (Excel)‘.

Data on Fossil CO2 Emissions (excluding international shipping and aviation) and industrial processes (cement, steel, liming, etc.) are from EDGAR (European Commission) (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

Information on national GDP(ppp-$) per capita: Worldbank (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

Source on Environmental Performance: Yale and Columbia University (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

Source on Ecological Footprint: Global Footprint Network (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

Data on national Forest Cover and Primary Forests are from United Nations UN (Report: Global Forest Resources Assessments) (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

Data on national Nuclear Power generation: World Nuclear Association (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

Data on national and global Populations is from Worldbank (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

PowerPoint collage with flags by Claus Andersen, 2017.