In assessing the role of countries as polluters, it is useful to look at how much carbon dioxide emit, both overall and on average per citizen. WWF has classified countries based on statistical information contained in the World Resources Institute Yearbook for 1996/7. This relies on data from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre for 1992 for "industrial" sources - that is excluding emissions from changes in land-use.

Column 3- This column looks at emissions on an individual basis (metric tons of carbon dioxide per head in 1992). The scheme classifies countries into three groups and reflects the wide disparities in fossil fuel consumption in industrialized countries. High users are red, over 13 metric tons per person; medium users are yellow, 8 to 13 metric tons per person; and low users are green, under 8 metric tons per person.