AUSTRALIANS were responsible for more harmful greenhouse emissions per person in the decade to 2005 than any other nationality in the developed world.
Research by the Australian National University shows that despite the rhetoric from politicians, the country's carbon footprint has worsened compared to other nations.
Between 1990 and 2005, our emissions grew almost 26 per cent - the sixth-fastest in the developed world.
Seventeen years ago, each Australian contributed 24.8 tonnes in emissions annually.
By 2005, that had grown to 25.9 tonnes.
The analysis by the ANU's Climate Law Initiative uses data from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and excludes emissions associated with land use changes and forestry.
It shows that Australia's per capita emissions were the highest in the developed world on average between 1996 and 2005.
The US came in second, followed by Luxembourg, Canada and New Zealand.
Report author Andrew Macintosh said Federal and State governments had failed to reduce or stabilise emissions.
NEWS.COM.AU
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Australians world's biggest greenhouse polluters
