for: carbon emissions - colonialism correction

title: Revealed: How colonial rule radically shifts historical responsibility for climate change

• Simon Evans,
• Verner Viisainen

publication: Carbon Brief

SUMMARY

• first-of-its-kind climate justice analysis that measures the contribution of colonial contributions of carbon emissions
• total emissions to date since 1850: 2,558bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2).
• planetary global warming since 1850: 1.15C above pre-industrial temperatures.
• 1850 was chosen as start year for humanity's measurable carbon budget due to available records and most emissions happening after this point"
• carbon budget used from 1850 to 2023:92%
• remaining carbon budget: 8%
• chances of staying under 1.5 Deg C if we do not exceed our budget: 50/50
• burn rate of remaining 8%: 1% / month
• time remaining to stay within budget: 8.4 years:
• emissions corrected by colonial emissions accounting"
  • Portugal emissions: > 3x more
  • Netherlands emissions: 3x more
  • UK emissions: 2x more
    • UK ranks 4th when colonial emissions are counted
  • France emissions: 1.5x more
  • EU+UK emissions:19% more
    • As a group, EU+UK ranks only 2nd behind US
  • India emissions: 15% less
  • Indonesia: 34% less
  • Africa: 24% less
  • On a per capita basis, China, Africa and India are far behind developed nations' emissions contributions.
  • Many former colonial powers are now net CO2 importers. This raises their emissions contributions even further if accounted for