6.2E Varying responsibility for climate change (HL) Notes

1. Countries differ significantly in how much they have contributed to global climate change.
2. Responsibility can be assessed using current emissions, cumulative emissions, per-capita emissions, and economic structure.
3. Industrialised nations and high-income economies have historically produced most greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.
4. Some developing nations now have large national emissions due to population size, but their per-capita emissions remain low.
5. Oil-rich states have some of the world’s highest per-capita emissions due to energy-intensive lifestyles and resource extraction.

Current CO₂ Emissions: National Totals

1. Countries with the largest total annual CO₂ emissions include China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan.
2. Large populations and rapid industrialisation increase national emissions, even when per-person emissions are modest.
3. China has the largest national emissions today due to manufacturing output and energy demand.
4. India’s national emissions are large because of its population, not because of high emissions per person.

Current CO₂ Emissions: Per Capita Patterns

1. The highest per-capita emissions are found in:
   1. oil-rich Gulf states such as Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates
   2. wealthy nations such as Australia, the USA, and Canada
   3. tourism-dependent islands with high transport and energy needs
2. Countries with large populations but lower incomes generally have far lower emissions per person.
3. Per-capita values show inequality in consumption and lifestyle patterns across the globe.

Cumulative Emissions Since the Industrial Revolution

1. Cumulative emissions provide the clearest picture of historical responsibility.
2. Since 1850, the United States and European nations have contributed the most to cumulative CO₂.
3. The USA alone has emitted over 400 billion tonnes of CO₂ since industrialisation began.
4. By comparison, India had only emitted 11 billion tonnes by 1990 and 57 billion tonnes by 2021 despite being one of the world’s largest populations.
5. This demonstrates that historical emissions from early industrialisation are responsible for much of today’s warming.

Which Countries Are Most Vulnerable to Climate Change?

1. Vulnerability is influenced by geography, economic capacity, political stability, and adaptive capability.