Policy Hub
On 2 November 2007, the World Bank Environment Department published a report (Growth and CO2 emissions: how do different countries fare?) which finds that the 70 largest emitters of CO2 from fossil fuels in 2004 produced 95 per cent of the global total. The largest emitters were mainly drawn from higher income developed countries, but also included all the G+5 countries, as well as several large oil producing countries.
During the period 1994-2004, some fifteen countries experienced a fall in emissions, and this group comprised mainly former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries that had undergone major structural change during the period. The percentage growth in emissions during the decade showed considerable variation among countries, with some large emitters experiencing significant growth, and others relatively low growth. The degree of inequality between countries with respect to total CO2 emissions is extremely high.
However, several countries did experience improved performance of emissions relative to GDP, suggesting that there need not be a negative trade-off between slowing the growth of emissions and maintaining high growth rates of the economy. Countries that were particularly successful in achieving high offsetting could well serve as case studies for how this might be achieved. On the other hand, the experience of several countries also makes it clear that, without active policies to curb the emissions intensity of the economy, emissions can actually increase faster than GDP, even when GDP has reached a high level.