Читать книгу How Can I Stop Climate Change: What is it and how to help - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 90

Half a billion tonnes. That’s how much carbon dioxide the UK emits each year. Some 60.2 million people live in the UK – that’s just less than one in every 100 people in the world; but in 2005 our emissions were around 2 per cent of the global total – double our fair share.

In fact the true total is even higher: 556 million tonnes is the official figure, but that doesn’t include our share of emissions from international aviation and shipping; nor the emissions created by all the products we buy from overseas.

Add to that the UK’s history and the footprint gets heavier still. We have been pumping out carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution. It is this historical record that leads many to argue that greenhouse gas emissions are a problem created by the developed countries, including the UK, and to insist that it is the old industrial world’s responsibility to reduce its emissions first. Richer countries, particularly the United States, have been reluctant to cut emissions before developing nations do, claiming it will damage their economies. This has been a major barrier to international agreements to tackle climate change.