The 2015 UN Climate Change Conference ends today. What have we learned? What have we agreed to change and what will inevitably stay the same?

You can find this image in the Wikipedia page that I linked in if you would like a larger version of it. I think this one works good enough since the data isn’t too difficult to see.

The data itself comes from the EU Edgar database and it shows the top 40 CO2 producing countries in the world. The interesting thing about the chart is that it doesn’t just show the total emissions by country, it also covers the emissions on a per capita basis.

In case you were wondering the chart data is from 1990 and then again from 2013. Take special note to the per capita figures.

A number of think tanks, such as World Pensions Council (WPC), involved in research related to climate change agree that it is imperative to convince law makers both here in the United States as well as those in China to step up policies to reduce CO2 emissions.

…as long as policy makers in Washington and Beijing [don’t] put all their political capital behind the adoption of ambitious carbon-emission capping targets, the laudable efforts of other G20 governments remain in the realm of pious wishes. …

David Waltham, for the Conversation, part of the Guardian Comment Network, wrote an interesting piece on why climate change is very much a real part of our lives. And while the deniers among us have made every effort to pulls the wool, over not only our eyes, but their eyes as well it is very real. I republished David’s article recently, and I suggest giving it a read, or at least skim.

Since I have republished the article I won’t reiterate it here. But if you have a website or blog I would ask that you republish it.

More Info.

The twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) takes place from 30 November to 11 December 2015, in Paris, France.

• COP21 | United nations conference on climate change (official venue site)
• Paris Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC official site)