2017

The diagram below shows ‘Share of global Climate Debt‘ in 2010, 2015 and 2017 of Luxembourg, Libya and Brunei (ranked 49th, 50th and 51st). The shares of Luxembourg and especially Libya are decreasing, whereas Brunei’s share is increasing.

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, Population trends and climate change financing. For comparison, Denmark, Bahrain and Iraq (ranked 52nd, 53rd, and 54th in Share of global Climate Debt) are included in some diagrams.

The ‘Per capita Climate Debt‘ accumulated since 2000 of Luxembourg, Libya and Brunei are $13,375, $1,216 and $17,856, respectively. The second diagram shows the trends between 2010 and 2017, with world average set at 100, for the three countries as well as of Denmark, Bahrain and Iraq. 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 Luxembourg, Libya and Brunei. 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 reduction-rate of Luxembourg between 2006 and 2014 is acceptable, however, several years too late. Libya’s emissions decrease around 2011 is due to economic collapse and Brunei’s performance is outrageous.

The diagram below shows per capita GDP(ppp-$) of the six countries and the World average. The wealth of Luxembourg is 6.6 times greater than World average.

The next diagram shows the relative Environmental Performance of Luxembourg, Libya and Brunei, with an average World country set at 100. The extremely wealthy Brunei is now at 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 Luxembourg, Libya and Brunei are 218, 85 and 61, respectively. Release years are about four years after data years. The Climate Debt of Luxembourg would have been 9.2% smaller with World average footprint. Note that footprint calculation methods have changed over time. See the latest and historic details from the source of ‘Luxembourg‘ (data of Libya and Brunei are missing at the site).

Forest Cover and the precious Primary Forests as percentage of total land area, in 1990 and 2015, are important indicators in ClimatePositions. Luxembourg has nearly stable Forest Cover and zero Primary Forests, while Libya has close to no forests. Brunei’s large Forest Cover and Primary Forests both decreased significantly, which caused 17% of its accumulated Climate Debt.

The diagrams below show Population density 2016 and growth between 2000 and 2016. The density of Luxembourg is 4 times World average. The Populations of Luxembourg, Libya and Brunei are about 0.6, 6.3 and 0.4 million, respectively.

Finally, the table below shows four key values of Luxembourg, Libya, Brunei, Denmark, Bahrain and Iraq in the calculation of national Climate Debts in ClimatePositions. 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 and global Populations is from Worldbank (links in the menu Calculations / Sources & Links).

PowerPoint collage with flags by Claus Andersen, 2017.