Our World in Data has a section on historic carbon emissions which will be useful to any school wanting to explore the idea that countries might pay penance for having emitted a lot of carbon dioxide over time.
The UK's total (since 1750) is 78 billion tonnes. This is ~4.6% of the total carbon dioxide emitted. By contrast, China's total is 236 bn tonnes having overtaken the UK in 1998. The USA is ahead at 417 bn tonnes and Russia and Germany are also ahead of the UK even though we started first. India at 54 bn tonnes will likely overtake the UK soon.
The Our World in Data graph is interactive and allows a comparison over time. Here are some examples:
1750 UK = 9.35 million tonnes = 100% of the total
1800 UK = 949 million tonnes = 99.6%
1850 UK = 3.7 billion tonnes = 78% (Germany = 5%) (USA = 4%)
1900 UK = 16.7 billion tonnes = 35% (Germany = 14%) (USA = 24%)
1950 UK = 39.2 billion tonnes = 17% (Germany = 13%) (USA = 40%)
2000 UK = 68.5 billion tonnes = 6.5% (Germany = 7%) (USA = 29%) (China = 7%)
2020 UK = 78.16 billion tonnes = 4.6% (Germany = 5.4%) (USA = 25%) (China = 14%)
So, if penance (some say reparations) is to be paid, who should be paying them, and what other factors need to be taken into account in deciding that?
A key point, I guess, is that as an early adopter the UK acquired economic and social (but not necessarily environmental) advantages even these were not shared equitably.
And what about those petro-states (Norway, Qatar, Canada, Saudi, Australia, Nigeria, Germany, Venezuela, the UK, etc) who have generously shared their crude but not their profits? How much penance should they be paying?
And to whom ...
It is easier to ask these questions than ask them. Great for school discussion though.
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