Page 51 - Nigeria one mag en-21

Factors that benefit wealthy nations
The World Economic Forum (WEF) released a report ranking the 115 countries studied based on their
energy transition index (ETI) in April 2021. Report findings are harsh, with only 13 countries moving at
a speed that is considered satisfactory in regards to decarbonization. This ranking places Nordic
countries at the top as the best performers. Thus, Sweden is the first in the ranking, followed by Norway
and Denmark, which have seen a rapid reduction in carbon intensity. Constant political will and
massive investments in decarbonization are responsible for these results.
However, despite the large share of renewable energy in their energy mix, the Nordic countries often
cited as examples nevertheless emit on average more greenhouse gases per inhabitant than other
European countries. According to the EEA, the 28 countries of the European Union emitted an average
of 8.4 tons of "CO2 equivalent" greenhouse gases per person in 2014. Among the Nordic countries, only
Sweden, which introduced a carbon tax in 1991, has a level of emissions below this average with 5.6
tons per capita. It must be remembered that Sweden is now one of the few European countries to
combine economic performance, social justice, and healthy public finances. In this country, households
have substantial purchasing power and a simplified credit access policy. If we look at the Nordic
neighbors, however, we see that the ranking does not reflect the high per capita consumption, as
Norway tops the list with 10.3 t/capita and Denmark is barely better with 9.1 t/capita. By way of
comparison, Nigeria has never exceeded one ton of CO2 per year and capita.

panorama of stockholm sweden

Energy transition 51