Even as COP27 (conference bringing together the international community to step up the fight against global warming) is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), the European Commission's EDGAR database reveals that two thirds of global emissions of CO2 take place in only ten countries!
The largest share of emissions related to human activities is generated in China, around 33% of the total, followed by the United States (12.6%) and India (7%).
Together, these three territories account for approximately half of the CO2 emitted into the Earth's atmosphere.
Russia and Germany are seen as European “bad students”
As our graph shows, the majority of the top ten emitting countries are Asian (and are among the most populous in the world), while there are only two European countries in this list: Russia and Germany.
It is also important to note that if we consider the size of the populations, CO2 emissions per inhabitant remain significantly higher in Europe than in Asia.
OUR “COP27” FILE
Moreover, the most polluting activities (oil and gas extraction, manufacturing industry, etc.) are mostly concentrated or have been relocated to a handful of producing countries.
It is therefore also necessary to take into account the emissions linked to imported products in the evaluation of the carbon footprint of populations.
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