One of the biggest sticking points in international climate negotiations has been the disparity between the countries that have up until now contributed the most greenhouse gas emissions to cause global warming, and the countries that represent the future of emissions growth.
Looking at a snapshot of emissions from 2012, using the World Resources Institute's (WRI) innovative CAIT Climate Data Explorer tool, it's immediately clear that most countries are experiencing the impacts from global warming without doing much to cause the problem in the first place. This partly explains why many developing countries frequently call on the industrialized countries to take action first, before imposing emissions cuts on them.
According to WRI's data, which is presented in the interactive graphic on Tuesday, the top 10 emitters contribute 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions, not including land use change and forestry. The lowest 100 emitters, many of which are African nations, contribute less than 3% of global emissions.
But this picture is going to change. In fact, that's already starting to happen.
Developing countries in Asia, in particular, are projected to increase their emissions significantly as their economies grow in the next few decades. The interactive tool from WRI shows that six of the top 10 emitters in 2012 were developing countries, led by China, which now outranks the U.S. as the world's biggest emitter.
So while the industrialized nations represent the current and historical emissions, developing countries represent the future of greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the energy technology they use.