2013

The diagram shows the Global Population the last 52 years. In 1960 the Global Population was 3.02 billion and in 2012 it was 7.03 billion. The annually updated figure is included in the latest version of ClimatePositions with impact on the national Climate Contributions (climate debt).

A hypothetical example: If the Global Population had stayed at the 1960 level until today, the target for national CO2 Emissions in ClimatePositions would have been 6.5 tons per capita in 2024, instead of the present 2.8 tons. In terms of Contributions it means that for example United States (the world’s second largest CO2 Emitter) would have saved 213 billion US$ in total Contribution (climate debt) in 2012.

Data on national and global populations are from the EIA, U.S. Energy Information Administration. Global population before 1980 is from United Nations (UN) (links in the menu “Calculations”).