18 AUGUST 2022
Dr. David Allen

In “The carbon culprits, part I”, we looked at the main drivers of CO2 emissions over time by country. While important, focussing on total emissions only tells part of the story.

What about CO2 emissions per capita?

In terms of our impact as individuals, arguably this is more relevant metric. The chart below shows the CO2 emissions per capita over time.

While Australia never cracked the top ten for total emissions, we are in the unenviable position of routinely appearing in the top three when it comes to CO2 emissions per capita.

It’s worth pointing out that this does not include the CO2 from the coal and natural gas that we export to entities overseas (scope three emissions). If we include these emissions, Australia is literally off the chart. China while dominating global emissions does not make the top 10 on a per capita basis until 2018.

In part III we drill down into the sectors, industries, and companies that are the principal drivers of CO2.

Read Part III >

About the Author


Dr David Allen is head of Short/Long Strategies at Plato, managing the Plato Global Net Zero Hedge Fund. He holds a PhD from Cambridge and Bachelor of Business with First Class Honours.

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