Malaysia's carbon emissions per capita higher than worst emitter China

At 7.2 tonnes per person, Malaysia's carbon emission per capita is greater than the world's largest carbon emitter China.

In comparison, the carbon emission per capita for China is 7 tonnes per capita, while the United States emits 15 tonnes per capita.

China accounts for about a quarter of the world's annual carbon emissions, followed by the US (11.84 percent), India (6.84 percent), Russia (4.07 percent) and Indonesia (3.84 percent).

This is according to data of historical emissions and future climate targets of 193 countries collated by the Financial Times.

The data from agencies Climate Watch and the International Energy Agency was presented in a dashboard in conjunction with the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which is now in session in Glasgow, Scotland.

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, referring to governments that have signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change.

The COP brings signatories together annually to discuss how to jointly tackle climate change.

It comes at a crucial juncture, where countries must commit to actions now to reduce global emissions by half by 2030, to have a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Indonesia top emitter in Southeast Asia, but not per capita

Even though Indonesia emits the most carbon emissions in Southeast Asia, on a per capita basis it does far better than Malaysia at just two tonnes per capita or almost four times less per person.

In terms of carbon emissions per capita, Brunei tops the chart in Southeast Asia with 16.7 tonnes per capita, double that of Malaysia.

However, this might in part be due to its small population of just 437,483.

This is followed by Singapore, a country with a population of 5.69 million, which emits 8.4 tonnes of carbon per capita.

Malaysia is third in the region with 7.2 tonnes per capita, followed by Thailand at 3.5 tonnes, Vietnam (2.5 tonnes), Laos (2.5 tonnes), Indonesia (2 tonnes) and Myanmar (0.6 tonnes).

In terms of total emissions, Malaysia ranks 23rd out of 193 countries for carbon emissions.

Its emissions went up 6.6 percent compared to the year before, and it has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral "as early as 2050".

Rush hour in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia

Indonesia is the worst in the region, ranking 5th out of 193 countries, with emissions growing 16.22 percent year-on-year.

Singapore ranks 74th, with just a one percent increase in emissions year-on-year.

In the Southeast Asia region, only Laos reduced its emissions year-on-year, cutting back by 0.3 percent while the rest of the emissions grew in other regional neighbours.

Climate injustice

Previously, developing nations and countries in the global south have been under pressure to reduce their emissions, prompting an outcry of climate injustice.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change states "the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gasses has originated in developed countries, while per capita emissions in developing nations are still relatively low".

It added that "developing nations will continue to grow emissions to meet social and development needs".

The US Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center estimates that developed nations accounted for the bulk of emissions from the 19th century.

As such, some experts have argued it is unfair to expect developing nations to set similar emissions reduction targets as developed nations, which had previously benefited from emissions causing industrialisation.

Along the same lines, experts argue that developed nations should contribute to developing nations' efforts to reduce emissions there through a transfer of technology, funds and other contributions. - Mkini