WHICH NATIONS ARE MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?

Only one U.s.-based corporation (Exxonmobil, ranked #5) is among the top 10 worst polluters, ahead of the Netherlands’ Royal Dutch Shell (ranked #9). But the biggest emitter by far is China for coal, followed by Saudi Arabian Oil and Russia’s Gazprom. Other top-10 polluters are based in Iran, India, and Mexico. The only German polluter in the top 100 list is the electric utility RWE AG (ranked #41), however seven of the biggest offenders in the EU are based in Germany, making this country the biggest polluter in the EU and putting it in sixth place worldwide. But Germany has been making huge strides: The share of electricity from renewable sources rose from just 3.4% in 1990 to more than 50% in March of 2019. By way of contrast, solar and wind still provide less than 10% of the total energy generation in the United States. Given the progress Germany has made, id interviewed one of the country’s top climate scientists.