What is the average carbon footprint?
So whats an average carbon footprint? Fair to say it varies 🙂
The average carbon footprint in the UK is good at 5.2t/CO2/yr, but we need to bring this down to 3.5t/CO2/yr by 2035 if we have any chance of hitting net zero by 2050, some task!
Across the EU its a mixed bag at an average of 6.1t/CO2/yr. As you’d expect the Scandis and their impressively clean lifestyles are well below the average, with more industrial and dirtier energy mixing from the eastern European countries pushing the average up.
The USA has a massive per capita footprint due their huge cars, food, houses, holidays, everything is XXXL and their average consumption 14.7t/CO2/yr. If everyone in the world lived like Americans we’d be goosed already.
China has overtaken the USA for total emissions, but on a per capita basis it is about half the USA on 7.6t/CO2/yr.
Less developed countries aren’t even given a chance to emit and have footprints that we now need to aspire to.
But who are the biggest polluters – look no further than the gulf states like the UAE with a whopping 20.5t/CO2/yr. Burning oil, burning through cash, and burning our chances of living within our limits.
