The United Arab Emirates, Australia and the United States have the worst overall records for emitting greenhouse gases, according to an index published on November 17 combining current and historic emissions.
The top of the 183-nation ranking, compiled by British consultancy Maplecroft, was dominated by rich countries and OPEC members. It said it aimed to alert investors to countries vulnerable if UN-led climate talks ever agreed wider penalties on carbon.
The ranking of carbon dioxide emissions from energy use placed the UAE top, largely because of a sharp rise in emissions in recent years linked to desalination plants in an economy almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels.
"Desalination is a positive way to address water security but high emissions underline the need to find more energy-efficient innovations," Maplecroft said in a statement. Australia, dependent on coal, was second ahead of the United States, by far the biggest cumulative emitter since 1900 and now the number two national emitter behind China. Both Australians and Americans have high per capita emissions.
They were trailed by Canada, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Russia, Belgium and Kazakhstan in the top 10. The index gave a 50 percent weighting to current per capita emissions of greenhouse gases, 25 percent to total national emissions and the remaining 25 plercent to cumulative historic emissions.
A treaty to limit emissions is out of reach for 2010 as part of efforts to slow rising temperatures which the UN panel of climate scientists says will lead to more droughts, heat waves, mudslides, floods and rising seas.
"As the world moves towards a low carbon economy, more rigorous environmental policies may leave companies exposed to costly operating expenses and new investment requirements," said Maplecroft's head of maps and indices, Fiona Place.
China was 26th in the index. Its per capita emissions from a population of 1.3 billion are a fraction of those of industrialised countries such as the United States or Australia.
African countries with low emissions were bottom of the list. Chad, where only about 2 percent of the population have access to electricity, was last in 183rd place.
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