2 Not all footprints are equally heavy

The carbon footprint of a particular individual or household depends on the amounts and types of energy, food, and other goods and services they consume. This means that their carbon footprint depends on where they live, the type of home they live in, their income, values and lifestyle. Thus, carbon footprints of individuals and households vary widely within a country and also between different countries, but especially between wealthy, Global North countries (e.g. the UK), newly industrialised countries (e.g. China), and less wealthy Global South countries (e.g. Uganda).

For individual or household carbon footprints, the average footprint within a country is usually given. This is more correctly referred to as the mean, which is calculated by dividing the total carbon footprint of a country by its population (see Section 2.1.1: Averages – mean and median). Although these average (mean) values show the variations in carbon footprints between different countries, they conceal the wide variations within each country.