From Envirowiki

Historical greenhous gas emissions refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions of a country, region, or group, over a long timespan. This is as opposed to the frequently used per capita emissions, which only look at emissions per annum, and can often ignore how long a country has been emitting at that rate. Such a study would show that generally developed nations, who are usually those who have been industrialised the longest, would have a far larger slice of the emissions pie graph over a timespan such as a century.

While a group of people, such as an industrialised nation, cannot necessarily be held morally responsible for the actions of their ancestors, it must still be recognised that in this situation, the actions of the ancestors (industrialisation) has contributed directly to the net benefit in living standards of the group, and has also contributed directly to the detriment of other groups of people (non-industrialised nations) ^[1]

[edit] 1 World historical emissions

Table after Baumert et. al., Chapter 6^[2]
Cumulative CO2 Emissions, 1850–2002

Country	% of World	(Rank)
United States	29.3	(1)
EU-25	26.5	(2)
Russia	8.1	(3)
China	7.6	(4)
Germany	7.3	(5)
United Kingdom	6.3	(6)
Japan	4.1	(7)
France	2.9	(8)
India	2.2	(9)
Ukraine	2.2	(10)
Canada	2.1	(11)
Poland	2.1	(12)
Italy	1.6	(13)
South Africa	1.2	(14)
Australia	1.1	(15)
Mexico	1.0	(16)
Spain	0.9	(20)
Brazil	0.8	(22)
South Korea	0.8	(23)
Iran	0.6	(24)
Indonesia	0.5	(27)
Saudi Arabia	0.5	(28)
Argentina	0.5	(29)
Turkey	0.4	(31)
Pakistan	0.2	(48)
Developed	76
Developing	24

[edit] 2 references

1. ↑ Historical Emissions and Free-riding, Axel Gosseries, 2003
2. ↑ Baumert, Kevin A; Tim Herzog, Jonathan Pershing (2005-12). Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy. World Resources Institute, 122. ISBN 1-56973-599-9. Retrieved on 2008-10-11.