The study by The University of Queensland and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) shows a dramatic global mismatch, with 20 of the 36 highest emitting countries – including the U.S. Canada, Australia, China, and much of Western Europe – found to be the least vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
By contrast, eleven of the 17 countries with low to moderate emissions were identified as most vulnerable to climate change. These countries, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, are generally the least developed nations, and thus have few resources available to cope with their exposure to serious environmental change.
The situation is akin to non-smokers getting cancer from second-hand smoke, while the heavy smokers continue to puff away.
The authors say the mismatch between the culprits and the affected areas act as a disincentive for high-emitting 'free-rider' countries to mitigate their emissions.
They predict that by 2013 the number of acutely vulnerable countries will worsen as a result of mounting climate change-related pressures such as droughts, floods, biodiversity loss and disease.
The authors call on 'free-rider' countries to do much more to ensure they bear the burden of coping with climate change impacts.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.