Climate change: the five countries that have historically contributed the most to global warming
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- BBC News World
The United States first, followed by China at some distance, then Russia, Brazil and Indonesia.
These five countries, according to a new survey on the historical accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, major pollutants From the world.
The study, conducted by the Carbon Brief think tank on the eve of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which begins on November 1 in Glasgow, Scotland, focuses on the period between 1850 and 2021.
For the first time, it takes into account Elimination of Forests When calculating carbon dioxide release. That’s why Brazil and Indonesia are prominent.
Other variables taken into consideration are emissions from burning fossil fuels, shifts in land use and cement production.
Thus the change in methodology changed the list of the 20 largest historical pollutants.
In the previous Carbon Briefing Survey (2019), which looked only at emissions from burning fuels, the United States was the historically polluting country, followed by China, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
In total, humans have resurrected 2.5 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1850.
And The United States contributed 20%. Total del, China 11%, Russia 7%, Brazil 5%, Indonesia 4%.
Brazil case
In Brazil and Indonesia, most emissions are due to registration and land use for Livestock and Agriculture, not burning fossil fuels, as in other major polluting countries.
Therefore, according to ecologists, studies that do not take into account emissions related to deforestation ignore the characteristics of Brazilian pollution.
According to Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, an organization that annually calculates emissions in Brazil, in the past three decades about 80% They were because of Elimination of Forests and land use for Livestock.
“If you take the last 30 years, 73% of the planet’s emissions are in energy. If you spend the last 30 years in Brazil, 55% of emissions are from deforestation. Brazilian cattle, we’re close to 80%,” Asterini told BBC News Brazil.
to throb
Discussion on responsibilities for controlling climate change will be central to the COP26 meeting, which ends on November 12.
At the meeting, leaders from more than 100 countries will negotiate and try to reach new commitments to ensure the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming at 1.5°C is achieved.
Poor and developing countries are expected to demand more compensation from rich countries and highlight that they have not fulfilled their commitment to contribute $100 billion annually to climate change mitigation actions.
In turn, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union will try to obtain from the large emerging countries, such as Brazil, Russia, China and India, More ambitious commitments To control deforestation and reduce emissions.
In this pulse between rich and developing countries, each nation’s responsibility in the face of global warming will be measured, among other ways, by the current and historical volume of emissions.
It is expected that Brazil is one of the most stressed countries, due to the dramatic increase in deforestation and burning of forests in the Amazon in the first three years of President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.
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