2017

The diagram below shows ‘Share of global Climate Debt‘ in 2010, 2015 and 2017 of Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia (ranked 4th, 5th and 6th). Canada’s share is decreasing, while Russia’s and Saudi Arabia’s are increasing. Global Climate Debt accumulated since 2000 is $7.2 Trillion.

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, South Korea, Australia and Germany (ranked 7th, 8th, and 9th in Share of global Climate Debt) are included in some diagrams.

The ‘Per capita Climate Debt‘ accumulated since 2000 of Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia are $8,384, $1,970 and $8,225, respectively. The diagram below shows the trends between 2010 and 2017, with world average set at 100, for the three countries as well as of South Korea, Australia and Germany. 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 Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia. 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 Canada is too little and too late, Russia’s efforts looks plain pitiful, while Saudi Arabia’s behavior is outrageous.

The diagram below shows per capita GDP(ppp-$) of the six countries and World average. The wealth of Saudi Arabia is 2.7 times greater than World average.

The next diagram shows the relative Environmental Performance of Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia, with an average country set at 100. Canada performance has dropped to the rising level of Russia. [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 Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia are 216, 116 and 97, respectively. Release years are about four years after data years. Canada’s Climate Debt would have been 5.7% smaller with World average footprint. Note that footprint calculation methods have changed over time. The latest and historic details from the source are available here: ‘Canada‘ and ‘Russia‘ (data of Saudi Arabia is 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. Only significant change since 1990, is that Russia’s Primary Forests grew from 14.1% to 16.0% of total land area. Saudi Arabia’s Forest Cover is stable 0.5% (of which Primary Forests cover 36%).

The per capita Nuclear Power generation 2000-2016 of Canada, Russia and the World’s largest per capita generator Sweden is shown below (the per capita ranking is shown in brackets). Russia is the World’s 4th largest Nuclear Power generator in 2016, Canada ranked 6th. In the calculation of Climate Debt, Nuclear Power must be phased out similar to Fossil Fuels, calculated as if Nuclear Power was oil-generated.

Population density 2016 and growth between 2000 and 2016 show that the three countries have far more land per capita than World average. The Russian population decreased by 0.1% annually. The Populations of Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia are about 36, 144 and 32 million, respectively.

Finally, the table below shows four key values of Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia and Germany 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 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.