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Carbon Footprint of Nations: Global, Trade-Linked Analysis
Edgar G. Hertwich, Glen P. Peters. 2009. Carbon Footprint of Nations: Global, Trade-Linked Analysis. Environmental Science & Technology 43, 6414–6420
Processes causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions benefit humans by
providing consumer goods and services. This benefit, and hence the
responsibility for emissions, varies by purpose or consumption category
and is unevenly distributed across and within countries. We quantify
greenhouse gas emissions associated with the final consumption of goods
and services for 73 nations and 14 aggregate world regions. We analyze
the contribution of 8 categories: construction, shelter, food, clothing,
mobility, manufactured products, services, and trade. National average
per capita footprints vary from 1 tCO2e/y in African countries to 30t/y
in Luxembourg and the United States. The expenditure elasticity is
0.57. The cross national expenditure elasticity for just CO2,
0.81, corresponds remarkably well to the cross-sectional elasticities
found within nations, suggesting global relationship between
expenditure and emissions that holds across several orders of magnitude
difference. On the global level, 72% of greenhouse gas emissions are
related to household consumption, 10% to government consumption, and 18%
to investments. Food accounts for 20% of GHG emissions, operation and
maintenance of residences is 19%, and mobility is 17%. Food and services
are more important in developing countries, while mobility and
manufactured goods rise fast with income and dominate in rich countries.
The importance of public services and manufactured goods has not yet
been sufficiently appreciated in policy. Policy priorities hence depend
on development status and country level characteristics.
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