Red Countries Pollute More Than the Global Average, Blue Countries Less

What We’re Showing:

This map visualizes the countries above (red) or below (blue) the global average for per-capita consumption-based carbon emissions, which is 4.7 tCO₂.

Data comes from the Global Carbon Budget, accessed via Our World in Data.

What Are “Consumption-Based" Emissions?

From the source: Consumption-based emissions attribute the emissions generated in the production of goods and services according to where they were consumed, rather than where they were produced.

In other words, this metric accounts for how manufacturing has moved to specific countries, allowing consumers in other regions to benefit from goods while the emissions are recorded elsewhere.

Key Takeaways

The coloring in this graphic highlights the per capita emissions disparity between the Global North and Global South.

First used in the 1980s, these informal terms differentiate between economically developed, industrialized nations, mostly located in the Northern Hemisphere, and the less-developed countries mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.

It’s been adopted into climate discourse to highlight the divide in environmental responsibilities: the Global North contributes more to environmental degradation while the Global South faces greater climate impacts.