The UK represented just 0.81% of global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and industry in 2024. That’s a small proportion of the global total, so perhaps it’s easy to suggest that the responsibility to cut emissions should instead lie with bigger emitters like China, the US and India.
But with many countries contributing the same seemingly small proportion of global CO₂ concentrations, this whataboutism ignores the fundamental responsibility we all share. This 1% statistic hides the true picture of UK emissions and ignores the fact that the climate crisis is a global crisis.
The UK remains one of the biggest global emitters of CO₂, as 18th in the overall list of almost 200 countries worldwide. But look beyond the confines of our borders to include the emissions associated with our imported goods and services, and UK emissions nearly double, from around 0.8% to around 1.4%.
If you include historic emissions, the UK climbs even higher. As the birthplace of the industrial revolution, the UK kickstarted the burning of coal, oil and gas to power a growing economy, emitting enormous quantities of CO₂ in that 250-year process. So it is no great surprise that the UK is the fifth biggest emitting country over the period 1750 to 2024, responsible for 4.33% of all emissions over that time.
But CO₂ emissions aren’t just a thing of the past and present; they will continue to affect the climate for as long as they are produced. To limit climate consequences, we must reduce emissions wherever possible.
Another problem with this “only 1%” claim is that other countries use the same narrative too – and that all adds up.
New media analysis by the thinktank Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit has found the argument that “we’re only around 1% of global emissions” was used in over 200 articles across 27 countries. This is supposed to defend climate delay or inaction, but together these countries account for more than 21% of global CO₂ emissions – more than the US and India combined.
Comparable claims (of producing only a small amount of emissions) were also found in four countries each representing between 2-5% of global emissions – Russia, Japan, Indonesia and Iran.
Emissions from these four nations plus the other 27 countries adds up to 32.3% of global emissions. That’s more than China, the world’s biggest emitter, at 31.8%.
The global outlook
Newspaper articles from global media outlets appear to be seeking an exemption to emissions cuts for their own country, just like the UK.
“Canada only produces about 1.5% of the world’s emissions”, states an article in Canadian broadsheet, the National Post. “Australia cannot mitigate all the world’s emissions when we are only a bit over 1% of global emissions”, an opinion piece in the Australian Daily Telegraph claims. “Russia accounts for about 4% of the total greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, while China, the United States and India have significantly higher shares of emissions”, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
Some countries, clearly facing the very worst impacts of climate change, might have more of a case to make than others. Pakistan Today states: “The tragedy is that Pakistan contributes less than 1% to global emissions, yet pays one of the heaviest prices.” But when 31 countries around the world are making that same argument – totalling the same share of emissions as China, the world’s largest current polluter – our collective ability to cut global carbon emissions is significantly curtailed.
China, meanwhile, appears to be entering its stride. Government data published in February 2026 show China’s CO₂ emissions from energy and industry fell by 0.3% last year, with clean energy – which drove over a third of the nation’s growth last year – seemingly making a significant difference. And it installed more wind and solar last year than the rest of the world put together.
Polling in April 2026 shows that, at least here in the UK, the public want to see emissions reductions regardless of our global share. Most (60%) people surveyed said countries emitting less than 1% of global CO₂ should continue trying to reduce their emissions; and when told that all nations emitting less than 1% of emissions add up to the same as China, the proportion calling for action to reduce emissions increased to two-thirds (66%), with 36% arguing they “definitely should”.
The public are on board – even some of the world’s biggest emitters are on board. But if every country in the world, no matter its share of global emissions, left climate action up to others, the progress we’ve been making would falter at this critical hurdle. The consequences of climate change transcend national borders, so our efforts to prevent them worsening must too.
Chloe Brimicombe is part-funded by the ESRC and she is a heat ambassador for shade the UK.
Ella Gilbert is a member of the ECIU board and currently consults for the Royal Meteorological Society. She has previously received funding from UKRI and EU Horizon 2020.