Carbon debt using a top-down analysis

This chapter will explore an individual’s greenhouse gas emissions over an extended period, their carbon debt, by adopting a top-down approach. The analysis will use the national per capita production values to provide an estimate of their lifetime emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. It will use, as an example, an individual’s emissions in a country that has benefited hugely from the use of fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution: the United Kingdom. This same analysis is then carried out for selected countries in each continent across the world, highlighting the very different individual carbon debts incurred by people in the same age group. There are at least three other dimensions that must be addressed for an accurate estimate of an individual’s carbon debt. National production and consumption data are increasingly different metrics in a world where trade flows easily between nations and the implications of this are discussed. Also important is the contribution to emissions from land use changes that are significant in many countries. An individual’s contribution to methane and nitrous oxide emissions must also be included for a more holistic estimate of their debt. This chapter will address an individual’s lifetime carbon emissions using a top-down approach. It will take as a case study someone born in 1950 and use national data for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide to estimate their annual and lifetime emissions. Emissions by individuals born in the period since 1950 will also be estimated.