Variables
In this section we analize the dynamics of some variables (with the latest available data) with reference to the environmental footprint and social cohesion in 42 countries selected among Developed and Industrilizing countries.
CO2 Total Emissions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table rank the advanced countries based on Co2 total emissions. The most recent available data are at 2010 (source: The World Bank). Obviously, social and economic dimensions of a country influences its Co2 total emissions; but this data gives us a picture of what are the countries that generate more air pollution and the dynamics in their CO2 emissions. At 2010 the less polluting countries are Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Estonia and New Zealand; on the other hand, China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan are the countries that contribute most to the world air pollution (the 55.4% of world total, an increase compared with 55.1% in 2009 and 54.1% in 2008).
Table - Co2 emissions in 2009 and 2010
Kilo tons, Advanced Countries ranking
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data |
CO2 Per Capita Emissions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following figures and tables rank the advanced countries based on Co2 per capita emissions. Unlike Co2 total emissions, this data takes into consideration the size of the country analyzed, as the index is a division between the country’s Co2 total emissions and its population. The most recent available data are at 2010 (source: The World Bank). The countries with the lowest levels of Co2 per capita emissions are India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey. It’s interesting to notice that Chine and India have a better ranking than that found considering Co2 total emissions. The most polluting countries in terms of Co2 emissions per capita are Luxembourg, the United States, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia. While in 2009, due to the economic recession, most of the countries analysed have registered a decrease in CO2 emissions per capita, in 2010 data, especially for the wealthiest countries has increased again. Table - Co 2 emissions per capita in 2009 and 2010
metric tons per capita, Advanced Countries ranking
Sources: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data
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Forest Land | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table ranks the advanced countries based on the forest land in percentage of total land. Data are strongly influenced by country climate characteristics: countries with hot climate will have a worse rank in comparison with those with e wet climate. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to analyse the countries in order to discover which is characterized by a higher percentage of forest land. The latest available data (source: the World Bank) are at 2012. In 2012 the countries with the highest percentages are Finland (72.9%), Sweden (69.2%), Japan (68.6%), the Republic of Korea (63.8%) and Slovenia (62.4%).
Table - Forest Area in 2005, 2010, 2011 and 2012
% of land area, Advanced countries ranking, Italian decimal system
Sources: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data
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Marine Protected Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table ranks the advanced countries based on the Marine protected area in percentage of total surface. Countries like Switzerland and Austria are excluded because of their geographic characteristics (absence of Marine surface). Nevertheless, it is interesting to notice how the other countries behave. The latest available data are at 2010 (source: The World Bank). According to 2010 data, the country with the highest percentage isGermany (40.3%), following the United States (28.6%),Australia (28.3%), Estonia (26.5%) and Netherlands (22.1%). In the last positions, with percentages next to “0”, we find Argentina, Israel, Slovenia, Ireland and Belgium. Compared with 2005’s data, some countries like France, Germany and New Zealand have strongly improved their ranking
Tab. - Marine Protected Area in 2005, 2009 and 2010
(% of total surface area, Advanced countries ranking)
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data
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Energy Consumption | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table ranks the advanced countries based on the energy consumption per capita (in terms of kg of oil equivalent). It’s an important indicator as, in a long term perspective, in order to reduce the exploitation of the earth sources, we must consume less energy. The latest available data are at 2012 (source: The World Bank). The countries with the lowest levels of energy consumption per capita are India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and Mexico (China places 8th thanks to its large population). On the other hand, the countries with the highest energy consumption per capita are Saudi Arabia, the United States, Canada, Luxembourg and Iceland. In many countries, due to the international economic crisis, energy use per capita decreased between 2009 and 2012; however in most of the emerging countries energy use increased in the same period.
Table - Energy use in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012
(kg of oil equivalent per capita, Advanced countries ranking)
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data
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Energy from Renewable Combustible | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table ranks the advanced countries based on the percentage weight of energy made up by combustible renewable (solid and liquid biomass and biogas) and industrial and municipal waste on total energy used. Even if this indicator doesn’t take into account renewable energies (sun and wind), it’s a good indicator of the capacity of a country to make its waste and its combustible renewable a source for the society. The latest available data (source: The World Bank) are at 2012. Brazil (28.9%), Indonesia (25.4%), Finland (25.2%), India (24.7%), and Sweden (21.5%) are the best ranked advanced countries. Among these countries, Finland is the only one that improved its ranking in 2012. At the bottom of the table we find South Korea, Russia, Israel, Iceland and Saudi Arabia, with percentages next to “0”.
Table - Combustible renewable and waste in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012
(% of total energy use, Advanced countries ranking)
* 2011
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data
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Nuclear Plants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table ranks the advanced countries based on the number of operative nuclear plants. The higher this number, the higher the possibility to generate nuclear disasters. Data (from IAEA - Internetional Atomic Energy Agency) refers to December 2014. At that time, there are 438 Operative Nuclear Plants around the world; most of these plnats are in few countries: United States (100; four more compared to 2011), France (58), Japan (48; two more plants than in 2011), Russia (33; one more than in 2011), South Korea (23; two more plants) and China (23, 9 mpre plants than in 2011). Follow India, Canada and Sweden.Germany is the country which has reduced most the number of operative nuclear plants (from 17 in 2011 to 9 now). For the updating see IAEA website.
Table – Operative nuclear plants from 2010 to 2014
(Number of operative nuclear plants, Advanced countries ranking)
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on IAEA data
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Labor Participation Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following table ranks the advanced countries based on the labor participation rate. The higher the index, the higher the social cohesiveness in the country. The latest available data (source: The World Bank) are at 2013. Iceland (73.9%), China (71.3%), Brazil (69.9%) and Switzerland (68.2%) are at the top of the table. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia (52.1%), Hungary (51.9%), Turkey (49.4%) and Italy (49.2%) show the lowest labor participation rates. Compared to 2010, countries show different trends.
Table - Labor participation rate in 2010, 2011 and 2012
(Labor Force: % of Population >15, Advanced countries ranking)
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on World Bank data
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Human Development Index | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following tables rank the advanced countries based on the human development index (Source: Human Development Organization). It takes into account several social, economic and infrastructural variables in order to measure the degree of development of a country. An high index means that the country is characterized by good living conditions. It ranges from “0” to “1”. The latest available data are at 2013. In the first five positions we find Norway, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States. Brazil, China, Indonesia, South Africa and India have the lowest indicators among the advanced countries. Compared with 1980’s data, almost all the countries have increased their degree of development.
Table - Human development index from 1980 to 2013
(Advanced countries ranking, Italian decimal system)
Source: LTEconomy elaboration on Human Development Organization
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