Congratulations, Australians: your country now spews out more carbon dioxide per capita than any other nation on Earth and is also ranked at “extreme risk” from possible future global emissions regulations.

That’s the word from Maplecroft, a UK-based risk analysis organisation that recently released its “Climate Change Risk Report 2009/10.” The report includes the latest global scores for Maplecroft’s CO2 Energy Emissions Index (CEEI).

The new data shows Australia has overtaken the US in per capita carbon emissions and is now the most at risk among 185 countries in terms of its energy usage and carbon dioxide output. The risk assessment is based on business exposure in each country to possible future international regulations on carbon emissions and to pressure from public-interest groups.

According to the CEEI, Australia now emits 20.58 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person annually, whilst the US and Canada come in at second and third place, respectively, with 19.78 tonness and 18.81 tonnes per person.

By contrast, China and India — both of which have high total emissions — generate just 4.5 tonnes and 1.16 tonnes of carbon pollution per person, respectively.

The Maplecroft report also ranks countries according to its Unsustainable Energy Index (UEI), which assesses a country’s risk of being unable to obtain energy from low-carbon sources and operating, investing and lending in an energy-intensive economy. Among the nations most at risk in that index are Qatar (first out of 135 countries), Bahrain (third), Iraq (ninth), the United Arab Emirates (10th) and Saudi Arabia (15th).

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