Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Perspectives on the Top 20 Emitters and Developed versus Developing Nations (Updated November 28, 2008)

摘要

Using the World Resources Institute (WRI) database on greenhouse gas emissions and related data, this report examines two issues. The first issue is the separate treatment of developed and developing nations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. This distinction has been a pivotal issue affecting U.S. climate change policy. The second issue is the continuing difficulty of the current approach designed to address climate change through limiting greenhouse gas emissions to a specified percentage of baseline emissions (typically 1990). The data permit examination of alternative approaches, such as focusing on per capita emissions or the greenhouse gas emission intensity (measured as emissions per unit of economic activity).