2015

Jamaica’s updated Climate Debt per capita is $181 and the one of the Dominican Republic is $67. Cuba and Haiti are both Contribution Free (no Climate Debt). See the ‘ranking’ of 147 countries by November 2014. The Bahamas are not included due to lack of data on Ecological Footprint – however, if this indicator it is set at world’s average, then the per capita Climate Debt of the Bahamas would be $2,982 (ranked 17). The following examines CO2 Emissions from fossil fuels, GDP(ppp-$), Environmental Performance and Forest Cover.

The four diagrams below show the CO2 Emissions from fossil fuels per capita in decades of Jamaica, the Dominica Republic, Cuba and Haiti in comparison with the world average (the grey bars). The green bars show the Contribution Free Level in ClimatePositions – the Free Level is calculated on the basis of the level of CO2 Emissions in 1990s and a number of continuously updated ‘indicators’. If the black bars exceed the green bars, on average, then the country has a Climate Debt.

The next five diagrams show the CO2 Emissions per capita 2000-2013 (2013-emissions are preliminary estimates) of the same four countries and the Bahamas (note that the Contribution Free Level is calculated with the Ecological Footprint set at world average).

The Environmental Performance tends to be domestically focused and richer countries often perform better than poorer. The diagram below shows the relative performance of Jamaica, Haiti and the United States, with the average of 180 countries set at 100. The 2012-performances of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas are all worse than Jamaica’s and close to world average. Examine the detailed national scores at the ‘source’.

Cuba has increased Forest Cover by 7.4% and the Dominican Republic has unchanged Forest Cover (missing data on Primary Forests is set at zero). The corresponding area-changes of Jamaica, Haiti and the Bahamas are all insignificant. Data and diagrams are available in the menu ‘Calculation (Excel’.

The GDP(ppp-$) per capita since 2000 of the five countries and the world average, is shown in the diagram below. The catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in 2010 smashed an already very poor country.

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If the Dominican Republic had remained at the lower 1990-level of Marine Protection Areas, then the accumulated Climate Debt would have been $42 million larger than the present (6% increase).

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Information on national GDP(ppp-$) per capita: Worldbank (links in the menu “Calculations”).

Source on CO2 Emissions: EIA, U.S. Energy Information Administration and data on preliminary national CO2 Emissions are from Global Carbon Project (links in the menu “Calculations”).

Source on Environmental Performance: Yale and Columbia University reports, published 2006-2014 (links in the menu “Calculations”).

Sources on national forest cover and primary forests: United Nations (UN) (links in the menu “Calculations”).

Sources on national marine protections: United Nations (UN) (links in the menu “Calculations”).

Drawing by Claus Andersen, 2015.