A new study conducted by Boiler Cover UK analysed the impact that essential industries have on climate change in different countries. The study highlighted some alarming data related to climate change, shedding light on the importance of preserving natural resources.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are a major contributor to global warming and climate change. These emissions trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to the greenhouse effect, which causes rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns.
The study analysed 52 countries to find out which ones are at the forefront of mitigating climate change.
According to the results, South European country Montenegro is the country with the lowest total CO2 emissions (2,292,498 kt), followed by Iceland and Moldova (375,318 kt and 3,435,931 kt respectively).
When considering the CO2 emissions per capita, Luxembourg, Iceland and Estonia rank 49th, 48th and 43rd in the ranking, with 11.4 kt, 9.4 and 7.7 kt respectively. It is surprising to see that Luxembourg, despite being a small country, ranks just before Canada and the US, even though its population is nearly 60 times smaller than Canada's, and 519 smaller than the US’s!
The findings show China, United States and India have the highest total annual CO2 emissions (11,400,000,000 kt, 5,057,303,600 kt and 2,830,000,000 kt respectively). Whilst some of the countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan and the US maintain a high CO2 emission per capita, others such as Brazil, Mexico, India and Indonesia don’t.
India and Brazil are among the countries with the lowest emissions per capita (1.9 kt and 2.2 kt respectively).
In addition, the results show Central American countries Honduras and Guatemala at the top of the ranking, with 1.05 and 1.06 CO2 emissions per capita respectively, followed by the Philippines (1.2 kt annually).
Forestry plays an essential role in environmental health and the global climate. While sustainable forestry practices can offer significant ecological benefits, including carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation, poor forestry practices have the opposite effect, contributing substantially to climate change.
We analysed 52 countries and explored their forestry practices to see which ones are most and least committed to preserving their forests and safeguarding Earth’s natural resources.
Based on the results, Brazil, Sweden and Finland are the countries with the best forestry practices for climate change.
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With 59.4% of its land covered by forest (a total of 496,619,600 hectares in 2020), Brazil is the top country for its forestry relating to climate change. Showing a negative deforestation rate of -0.1567% between 1990 and 2020, the South American country has shown progress over the years in terms of tree preservation by planting 1,122,360 hectares of the current forest area. The country also shows the highest amount of naturally generated forest area (485,396,000 hectares).
While in the past Brazil has had a reputation for excessive deforestation, the data suggests that the South American country has the biggest forest area naturally regenerating, totaling 4,85,396,000 hectares. This might contribute to its place in the ranking.
With the second-highest share of forest land (68.8%), following Finland (73.7%), Sweden is the second-best country for its forestry.
Despite the country’s annual CO2 emissions being a little less than average (36,163,000 kt), Sweden has one of the highest amounts of forest area planted (13,912,000 hectares), following more vastly populated countries like China, the US and Canada (84,696,296, 27,521,000 and 18,163,390 hectares respectively).
With a negative deforestation rate change of -0.003% between 1990 and 2020, the Swedish know how to look after their forests.
With the highest share of land covered by forest out of all the countries analysed (73.7%), Finland is the third-best country for forestry. Covering an area of just 338,462 km² (25 times smaller than Brazil), Finland counts a staggering 22,409,000 hectares of forest area. While the deforestation rate amounts to 0.0244%, the country ranks 8th for hectares of forest area planted (7,368,080), following Japan and Brazil (10,184,000 and 11,223,600 hectares respectively).
Displaying the highest deforestation rate from 1990 to 2020 at 2%, and the smallest share of forest land at 0.5%, which totals only 51,350 hectares, Iceland is the worst-performing country in terms of its forestry.
The low number of hectares of naturally regenerating forest area (11,790) suggests a hostile environment for forests to grow, which might be a contributing factor to Iceland's position as the bottom-ranked country in forestry.
With 10.9% of its land covered by forests (a total of 369,500 hectares), the Netherlands is the second-least effective country in forestry practices. Despite the country's deforestation rate being slightly below average at 0.0725%, the Netherlands has the second-smallest area of naturally regenerated forest, only larger than Iceland's, at 37,920 hectares.
With 11.35% of its area covered by forests, totaling 782,020 hectares, Ireland ranks as the third-worst country in forestry performance. This ranking is likely due to its high deforestation rate of 0.69%, the highest after Iceland and Uruguay, which have rates of 2% and 1.54% respectively, placing the country so high in the ranking. The area of naturally regenerated forest in the country is also small, totaling 107,800 hectares.
Unsustainable fishery practices exacerbate climate change by disrupting marine ecosystems and reducing biodiversity. Overfishing and destructive techniques damage habitats crucial for carbon sequestration, releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere. Additionally, intensive aquaculture contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable fisheries are then vital for preserving marine ecosystems and combating climate change.
We analysed the fishery practices of 44 different countries to identify the most and least sustainable ones for climate change.
With an aquaculture production of 2,296 metric tonnes, Slovakia has the fourth-lowest output among all countries, after Argentina, Switzerland and Uruguay (2,084.5, 2,048.1 and 103 metric tonnes respectively). In terms of capture fisheries production, Slovakia's output of 1,736 metric tonnes is the fourth lowest, following Switzerland, Cyprus and Austria, which have outputs of 1,485.93, 1,265.81 and 350 metric tonnes respectively.
In terms of seafood production, Slovakia has observed the third most significant decline among all the countries, with a decrease of 0.563% over the past 60 years. This reduction may indicate shifts in the nation's fishing practices but does not necessarily imply superior sustainability.
Despite the country’s low aquaculture production (2,048.1 metric tonnes) second only to Uruguay (103 metric tonnes), Switzerland records the third lowest capture fisheries production (1,485.93 metric tonnes), and a percentage increase in fishery production of 0.22%. This makes it the second-best country in the ranking for fishery practice.
With the lowest capture fishery production of only 350 metric tonnes among all the analysed countries and experiencing a mere 0.095% increase in seafood production between 1960 and 2020, Austria ranks as the third-best country in terms of its fishery.
Registering the highest capture fisheries production out of all the other countries in the study at 13,445,983 metric tonnes, and the highest aquaculture production at 70,483,540 metric tonnes, China leads in terms of volume. However, this level of production raises questions about the sustainability of fishery practices in China.
In terms of seafood production, China has recorded a staggering 20.9% increase over the past 60 years, a factor that contributes to making it the least sustainable country in terms of fisheries practices
India and Indonesia are the second and third countries, respectively, with the most endangered fisheries.
Indonesia and India rank as the second and third countries in aquaculture production with 14,845,014 and 8,641,286 metric tonnes respectively, and for capture fisheries production with 6,989,382 and 5,522,714 metric tonnes respectively.
Both Asian countries have registered a considerable percentage increase in seafood production between 1961 and 2020, amounting to 12.7% for India and 13.8% for Indonesia.
The misuse of nitrogen fertilisers in agriculture contributes significantly to aggravate climate change. These fertilisers emit nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, which exacerbates global warming.
To combat these effects, sustainable practices such as precision farming, slow-release fertilisers, and organic methods are essential.
Boiler Cover UK conducted an analysis exploring several factors, such as nitrogen usage and the frequency of natural disasters like droughts and floods across 51 countries, to identify which countries have the highest and lowest contributions to climate change.
According to the results, Moldova ranks as the best country for its agricultural practices. It records the second-smallest use of nitrogen fertiliser, after Bolivia, at 27.56 kg per hectare, and the third-lowest CO2 emissions at 5,422,021 metric tonnes. This Eastern European country takes pride in its respect for the land. The absence of floods and droughts in 2022 is noteworthy, but it should be noted that good agricultural practices alone may not directly indicate an absence of climate change impacts in the country.
Ranking fifth for the lowest CO2 emissions, with 7,029,358 kilotonnes, a factor partly attributed to its small size, Cyprus is positioned as the second-best country in the ranking for agriculture and tenth for fertiliser use, at 61.22 kg per hectare. This follows Estonia and Colombia, which use 59.35 and 60.64 kg per hectare, respectively.
Latvia ranks as the fourth country with the lowest CO2 emissions (6,591,454 kt annually). With a fertiliser use of 62.8 kg per hectare, following New Zealand and Italy (62.56 and 62.04 kg per hectare), Latvia ranks overall as the third-best country for its agriculture.
Displaying one of the highest nitrogen fertiliser usages in the ranking, at 190.85 kg per hectare, the country follows Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, which have usage rates of 196.99, 198.98, 205.57, and 205.73 kg per hectare respectively.
India's nitrogen usage is 120.97 kilograms per hectare, and it has the third-highest CO2 emissions at 2,830,000,000 kilotonnes, following China and the United States. This places India as the second-worst country in the rankings for its agricultural practices.
Despite having an average nitrogen fertiliser usage of 93.06 kg/ha, Brazil ranks as the third-worst country for agricultural practices due to its high CO2 emissions of 483,000,000 kt.
We also examined fertiliser usage (kg per hectare) to determine which countries prioritise land conservation. The results indicate that among the countries analysed, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Ireland use the least amount of fertiliser, with 205.73, 205.57, and 198.98 kg per hectare, respectively.
In terms of the least amount of fertiliser used, Bolivia leads the ranking with an annual usage of just 4.72 kg per hectare, followed by Moldova (27.56 kg per hectare) and Argentina (41.55 kg per hectare).
In conclusion, the 2024 Climate Study by Boiler Cover UK reveals significant disparities in how different countries contribute to climate change. While some nations exhibit responsible practices, such as lower CO2 emissions, sustainable forestry, fisheries, and agriculture, others face challenges and have a more negative impact.
The study emphasises the critical importance of sustainable practices and global cooperation to combat climate change.
To complete this research, we used the most up-to-date data available on the internet
CO2 Emissions (2022) https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions
Fertiliser Use per Country (2020) : https://ourworldindata.org/crop-yields
Fishing Industry Data (2020) https://ourworldindata.org/fish-and-overfishing
Forestry Data (2020) https://ourworldindata.org/forest-area
Deforestation Data (2020) https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/deforestation-rates-by-country
Disasters (2022) https://climatedata.imf.org/
We initially compiled a list of countries, including OECD countries, EU member states, and international nations. Next, we gathered data for each country pertaining to each industry and indexed every metric, assigning positive and negative values to each data point. To accomplish this, we utilized the RANK.EQ formula in Excel. After indexing all individual metrics, we consolidated them to create a final index for each industry.
