By the end of tomorrow (Friday 13 January 2012), the average person in Britain will have emitted as much carbon dioxide as the average person in Kenya will in an entire year, according to figures from the World Development Movement.
The latest available data shows Kenya’s annual per capita carbon emissions at 0.293 tons, while the UK’s are 8.351 tons. Despite having such little responsibility for causing climate change, Kenyans are facing some of the worst weather related disasters globally. Last year, Kenya and neighboring East African countries suffered their worst drought in 60 years, resulting in a severe food crisis.
By 2 January the average UK citizen had already emitted as much CO2 as the average person in Chad or Afghanistan will by the end of 2012.
By 16 January the average Brit will have emitted as much CO2 as the average Bangladeshi will all year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that Bangladesh will face an increasing number of disasters due to typhoons and tropical storms.
By 1 March a UK citizen will have emitted as much CO2 as the average citizen of India will do all year. An estimated 700 million people in India are at direct risk from the impacts of climate change.
– from wdm.org.uk