2.4 Summary of Section 2

The main learning points from Section 2 are:

• There are different ways of calculating the carbon footprints of individuals and households. Excluding the emissions associated with imports and exports, the mean territorial UK footprint is 4.7 tonnes of CO₂ per person per year. But more realistically, including imports and exports and other GHGs, the mean consumption-based UK footprint of CO₂ equivalent per person per year is more than twice that amount.
• The main components of individual and household carbon footprints in developed countries are private car and air travel, household gas and electricity use, the consumption of food and other goods, and the use of services.
• The carbon footprints of individuals and households vary widely within countries, related especially to people’s incomes, household sizes and lifestyles. For example, the carbon footprint per person of people living in Europe and the USA with the highest 10% of incomes is about six times that of those with the lowest 10%.
• The carbon footprint also varies between countries, by amounts depending on how it is calculated. About half of the world’s total territorial CO₂ emissions are produced by three countries: China, the USA and India. The average territorial emissions per person in the USA are nearly twice those of people in China and nearly eight times more than people in India.

Territorial emissions are used in international negotiations to limit dangerous increases in global temperatures. To reach international agreements, it is fairer to compare countries on mean carbon footprints per person than on total emissions, although this obscures the differences between the footprints of rich and poor people within each country. Next you will estimate your own carbon footprint.