Canada and the United States Worst on Climate Change

onJul 3, 2008 @ 11:02 PDT

So how is it that two of the world’s most affluent countries are the worst climate polluters in the G8 group of nations?

The World Wildlife Fund and German insurance giant Allianz SE, ranked the U.S. last among the G8 and Canada second to last because they’ve done so little to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.

Dr. Joachim Faber, holding board member of Allianz SE, said: “The G8 countries have a responsibility to be high achievers in the race against climate change. They need to be role models trail-blazing the way to steer the world towards a low carbon, clean energy economy.”

Here are the rankings from best to worst:

1. United Kingdom

2. France

3. Germany

4. Italy

5. Japan

6. Russia

7. Canada

8. United States

By Kevin Grandia

Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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