It is a highly innovative study carried out byNorwegian University of Science and Technology and published in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, because for the first time in history a huge amount of data was taken into account: approx 40 million flights who crossed the skies of the world in 2019 (record year for tourism) managing to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions produced by air travel in 197 countries.
What emerged from the study
Thanks to the analyzes conducted, (worrying) information also emerged on the 45 countries left out of the UN Treaty, as they were economically less developed states at the time. In 1992, in fact, the treaty was drawn up United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which saw high-income countries obliged to provide data relating to emissions derived from air flights on national and international routes. From this document, 55 countries were excluded which at that time were considered medium-low income, including giants such as China and India.
This means that the data analyzed by this study were practically inaccessible until now, to the point that what emerged was rather alarming: there were 911 million tonnes of global aviation emissions50% more of the 604 million reported by the United Nations in the year under review.
This study, therefore, revealed that the data released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change does not show the true impact of’pollution produced by global air traffic.
The countries that pollute the most: the ranking
This interesting Norwegian study also drew up the ranking of the countries that pollute the mostand as you can imagine there are some surprises. The first country in terms of emissions for national and international flights is the United States, followed by China (which was even excluded from registrations prior to these) and the United Kingdom.
In fourth place we find the United Arab Emirates, while in fifth place Germany, in sixth place Japan, in seventh place is France, in eighth place Korea, in ninth place Spain and in tenth place Austria.
L’Italy is placed in 17th place, much further away from other European countries which apparently pollute much more with their air flights, but without a shadow of a doubt one of the most important findings concerns China which, according to this study, is on the second step of the podium immediately after the United States.
The link between per capita economic well-being and emissions
The study conducted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology also analyzed the link between per capita economic well-being and emissions, showing that in Norway, a country recognized as green and sustainable and where only 5.5 million people live, emissions per person rank third globally, after the United States and Australia. For what reason? Because those with greater economic potential can afford to travel more by plane.
The objective of this Norwegian analysis is to be able to fill some gaps in terms of air pollution, putting various alarming pieces of evidence on the experts’ table, which the authors hope will be taken into consideration in the short future to improve the conditions of the planet we live on.