Countries With Highest CO2 Emissions

[Chris Lewer]

According to data from the Global Carbon Project, China, USA, India, Russia and Japan are the top five CO2 producing countries. But should other nations also bear responsibility for this?

China’s manufacturing industry, for example, is one of the primary causes of CO2 emissions. Yet most of China’s manufactured goods are for export to other countries demanding cheaper products for growing populations.

[Freebird]

Apart from possibly small island nations, all countries must collectively bear responsibility for CO2 emissions. We can’t just point the finger at the top 5 and say that they are to blame. Where were your car and television manufactured? Add to that the CO2 emissions from international shipping.

[DayWalker]

I’m sure shipping must be responsible for significant CO2 emissions. Look how much is shipped around the globe by air, sea and land. Most of the fresh fruit I look at in the supermarket comes from overseas, so it all requires international shipping. How much would we reduce emissions by if we bought more from local producers?

[Planet Watcher]

This is very true. China manufactures for much of the world, because it can do so cheaply. Manufacturing is one of the primary causes of CO2 emissions, but there are really two issues here. Firstly there are too many of us. Secondly, most us live our lives constantly upgrading old for new. We consume too much. This both increases waste (the old goes in the trash) and necessitates more manufacturing (we want new to replace the old that we’ve discarded).

[Author]

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