The 10 most polluting countries per capita, according to new UN report

Photo credit: by Marc Guitard

In a highly anticipated report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading climate scientists have relayed a stark warning on the expanding climate emergency.

As well as outlining some of the changes already set in motion thought to be "irreversible", the report — released on Monday 9th August — also revealed the worst offending countries when it comes to pollution.

The report comes ahead of the COP26 climate summit getting underway in Glasgow from 31st October to 12th November. (For daily updates from the summit, see here)

According to Statista, who compiled data on the top polluting countries per capita (i.e. in relation to each person) in 2017 in terms of CO2, Qatar is the most polluting country at 37.05 tonnes.

However, out of the G7 nations, who agreed to tackle climate change at a summit this year, it is actually Canada who is responsible for the most pollution, with 16.85 tonnes of CO2 emissions per capita.

Photo credit: Istvan Kadar Photography

Though the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has previously vowed to tackle climate change and has set a target to lower Canada’s emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.

The US are the second worst offenders, coming in close behind with around 15.74 tonnes, followed by Germany at 9.7.

The UK has the second-lowest CO2 emissions per capita in the G7, at over 5 tonnes.

The IPCC warned that limiting global warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels 'will be beyond reach' in the next two decades without immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres described the report as "a code red for humanity."

He added: "The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk."

The top 10 most polluting countries according to the IPCC:

1. Qatar — 37.05 per capita

2. Kuwait — 23.49 per capita

3. Saudi Arabia — 19.39 per capita

4. Canada — 16.85 per capita

5. United States — 15.74 per capita

6. Germany — 9.7 per capita

7. China — 7.72 per capita

8. Spain — 6.09 per capita

9. France — 5.02 per capita

10. Thailand — 4.05 per capita

You can read the full report here.

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