Today’s children will emit 10 times less CO2 than their grandparents

Ōtautahi - Today’s children will emit 10 times less CO2 than their grandparents, if the world reaches net-zero emissions by 2050, the IEA estimates.

In advanced economies with bigger carbon footprints, people born in the 1950s could emit 15 times more CO2 than their descendants.

The carbon footprints of grandparents in developing economies are smaller, at only three and a half times the size of children born in the 2020s.

Getting to net-zero emissions by 2050 does not mean sacrificing wealth. Babies born this decade will emit 10 times less carbon than their grandparents if the world becomes carbon neutral by 2050, the International Energy Agency says.

Global average lifetime CO2 emissions per capita by decade of birth in a net zero scenario, 1950s-2020s

Babies born today will emit 34 tonnes of CO2 in their lifetimes, 10 times less than their grandparents, if the world achieves carbon neutrality by 2050.

Globally, an average person born in the 1950s will probably emit 350 tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime if the world achieves net zero by 2050.

This compares to the average child born today emitting just 34 tonnes of CO2 each in the same scenario. This means the carbon footprint of an average baby boomer is 10 times bigger than today’s generation alpha children.

Grandparents in advanced economies have larger carbon footprints, because of higher emissions in those countries.

In advanced economies like North America and Europe, the generational gap between carbon footprints would be even bigger. This is because advanced economies have historically emitted more carbon than less developed economies.

In emerging economies, the gap in CO2 footprints between the generations is narrower, because of smaller carbon footprints.

Emerging economies show smaller variations in carbon footprints between the generations

In developing economies with smaller carbon footprints, the gap between generations is much narrower.

In India, the carbon footprints of people born in the 1950s is only three and a half times bigger than those of children born in the 2020s. The same calculation puts India’s economy 275 percent ahead of where it was 30 years ago, with substantial growth projected. In China, the 1950s footprint is four times bigger than the 2020s one.

In India, the same calculation puts the country’s economy 275% ahead of where it was 30 years ago, with ‘substantial’ growth projected.