The report by London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) looked at 11 major cities on four continents, including London, Tokyo, New York and Rio de Janeiro. It found per capita greenhouse gas emissions for a Londoner in 2004 were the equivalent of 6.2 tonnes of CO2, compared with 11.19 for the UK average. In the US, New Yorkers register footprints of 7.1 tonnes each, less than a thrid of the US average of 23.92 tonnes. Score one point for us urbanites! It’s true, I basically use nothing but public transport on a day-to-day basis, as well as doing a hell of a lot of walking. It’s only when I go back to my parents’ house that I realise just how reliant they are on the car to get around. It was the same when I was in the States last year: in Kentucky we had to use a car to do anything at all, and it was at least a 20-minute journey to the nearest town, whereas in San Francisco I walked absolutely everywhere, as well as using the BART to get out to Berkeley.
City dwellers have smaller carbon footprints, study finds
