New research shows the countries that emit the least greenhouses gasses suffer the most from them.

Like a lounge full of second-hand smoke, those that cause climate change do not feel its greatest effects, according to the University of Queensland study.

“There is an enormous global inequality in which those countries most responsible for causing climate change are the least vulnerable to its effects,” said lead author Glenn Althor.

“It is time that this persistent and worsening climate inequity is resolved, and for the countries with the greatest emissions to act.”

The dramatic global mismatch means that the highest emitting countries – including Australia - the least vulnerable to climate change effects, while the countries emitting the least amount of greenhouse gases were the most vulnerable to effects like increased frequency of natural disasters, changing habitats, human health impacts, and industry stress.

The researchers conducted a global analysis of the relationship between a nation’s carbon emissions and vulnerability to climate change.

The inequities were quantified using publicly available data.

They found that 20 of the 36 highest emitting countries – including the U.S. Canada, Australia, China, and much of Western Europe – were the least vulnerable to its impacts.

Eleven of the 17 countries with low to moderate emissions were most vulnerable to climate change. Most were found in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The authors said these countries were not only exposed to serious environmental change such as oceanic inundation or desertification. They were also generally the least developed nations, having few resources available to cope with these issues.

They said the mismatch between the culprits and the affected areas acted as a disincentive for high-emitting “free-rider” countries to mitigate their emissions.

The researchers predicted that the number of acutely vulnerable countries would worsen by 2030 as climate change-related pressures such as droughts, floods, biodiversity loss and disease mounted.

The study appears today in the journal Scientific Reports.