In a new poll, the majority of the public say countries with under one per cent of emissions should still take action.

Polling by YouGov for the Economist Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) reveals that 60 per cent of the public believe countries emitting less than one per cent of global carbon should continue trying to reduce their emissions.

When prompted with additional information that all nations emitting less than one per cent of emissions add up to the same as China, the proportion calling for action to reduce emissions increased to two-thirds.

Of course, this is the same public that underestimates the progress the UK has made so far and often seems confused about ‘offshoring’ carbon emissions in manufacturing, perhaps leading to a need for a more ‘global outlook’ amongst the public and more generally available information as to the supply chain implications of goods.

China has represented the largest share of global carbon emissions since 2006, now standing at nearly a third (31.8 per cent) of the global total according to the latest available data from 2024. There are some indications this is peaking, but China has on course to overtake the US in historic total emissions, although the current administration is not giving up the title of worst polluter easily. Despite leading the Industrial Revolution, the UK does not figure in the historic top five and currently stands at between 0.7 to 0.8 per cent of the global total, and has reduced GHG emissions by 54 per cent since 1990.

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