Leaders of wealthy nations, including the UK and Germany, have argued that their countries' small share of global emissions makes their climate efforts insignificant, but scientists and analysts challenge this reasoning. Rishi Sunak, when UK prime minister in 2023, said: 'When our share of global emissions is less than 1%, how can it be right that British citizens are now being told to sacrifice even more than others?' Similar statements have been made by former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison (1.3% of global emissions), German chancellor Friedrich Merz (2%), Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Small Emitters Collectively Responsible for Nearly Half of Global Emissions
While the US, China, and India account for just over half of global carbon pollution, the remaining 194 countries together produce just under half of yearly emissions. Small-emitting nations collectively represent 32% of global emissions. Climate scientists emphasize that historical emissions—which are far higher for European countries—matter most for global heating. Per capita, European nations have contributed disproportionately, and their progress in cleaning economies is only now bringing annual emissions close to the global average.
Prof Piers Forster, a climate scientist at the University of Leeds, said: 'These leaders wouldn't like it if the top 1% of their wealthiest citizens didn't pay their taxes, so the argument is fallacious and simply buck-passing. Future warming is driven by future emissions, so every tonne of carbon dioxide that a country or citizen can avoid emitting will improve temperature and heatwave outcomes for generations.'
Nationalist-Populist Parties Adopt the Argument
The '1% argument' has been used by far-right leaders and energy spokespeople in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy to justify weakening climate policy. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found 200 examples of such claims in national newspapers of 27 countries responsible for less than 2% of global CO2 emissions in 2024. An editorial in the British newspaper the Times in March 2025 stated: 'Climate change is clearly a problem, yet Britain, which contributes around 1% of global emissions, can do little to stop it.'
A YouGov poll for the ECIU in April found one in four Britons think countries emitting less than 1% of emissions should stop trying to reduce them. The share was highest among Reform UK voters, of whom half thought such countries should not continue cutting emissions. Party leader Nigel Farage called it 'absolutely mindless' for a country producing less than 1% of global CO2 to 'beggar itself'.
Scientists: Every Tonne Counts
Dr Ella Gilbert, a climate scientist and ECIU board member, said: 'The climate crisis is a global problem and every country should be acting to reduce emissions and build a greener global economy, especially those with the largest historical responsibility, like the UK. The climate doesn't care where carbon comes from—whether from multiple countries responsible for smaller proportions of emissions, or China.' She added that reaching net zero is the only way to avoid dangerous tipping points. 'The UK may account for just 1% of current global emissions, but we're responsible for 100% of our own emissions, and we have the opportunity to show global leadership by bringing them down.'
