The UK has only managed to cut its GHG emissions by exporting them to other countries, according to research by Dieter Helm, a government advisor and professor at Oxford University. Including emissions from imported goods and international transport, its emissions have risen by a fifth since 1990.
The UK has only managed to cut its GHG emissions by exporting them to other countries, according to research by Dieter Helm, a government advisor and professor at Oxford University. Including emissions from imported goods and international transport, its emissions have risen by a fifth since 1990.
Professor Helm argues that important sources such as international transport and tourism are omitted from the UK emissions inventory. If they were included, emissions would have fallen by just 11.9% since 1990, rather than by 15.3% as official figures claim. But he thinks that even this figure underestimates UK emissions. Adding the emissions “embedded” in imported products would mean emissions have actually risen by 19%.
Helm calculated how much carbon was embedded in products imported into the UK by multiplying the monetary value of imports by the carbon intensity of the originating country's economy measured in tonnes of CO2e per million dollars of GDP. He then subtracted the carbon embedded in UK exports from the overall import footprint to calculate that the UK's 'trade deficit in greenhouse gases' was 341 MtCO2e in 2006 - equivalent to around half of the UK's measured direct emissions.
The findings suggests that the UK is responsible for a significant chunk of the growth in emissions in trading partners such as China and India since 1990, with implications for the allocation of greenhouse gas reduction goals in a post-2012 international climate agreement. It strengthens the case for developed countries to take on a greater share of the burden to cut global emissions.
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