How much carbon do the world’s wealthiest people emit?

The elite are pushing  earth to the brink of ruin, says Oxfam after a detailed study of climate inequality. The climate disparity they found is alarming. The richest one per cent of the global population are responsible for more than the poorest 66 per cent. This elite group of 77 million people, including billionaires, millionaires, and those earning more than $140,000 (Rs1.16 crore) per year, accounted for 16 per cent of total CO2 emissions in 2019 — enough to cause more than a million extra deaths due to heat, according to the report. Limiting global warming may soon be impossible While fighting the climate crisis is a shared challenge, not everyone is equally responsible and government policies must be tailored accordingly, Max Lawson, who co-authored the report, told AFP. “The richer you are, the easier it is to cut both your personal and your investment emissions,” he said. “You don’t need that third car, or that fourth holiday, or you don’t need to be invested in the cement industry.” Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99 per cent, was based on research compiled by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and it examined the consumption emissions associated with different income groups up to the year 2019. It was published as world leaders prepare to meet for climate talks at the COP28 summit in Dubai later this month. Fears are growing that limiting long-term warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could soon be impossible to achieve. [caption id=“attachment_13407352” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Africa, which has one-sixth of the world’s population, was responsible for only four per cent of emissions. Image used for representational purpose/Pixabay[/caption] Among the key findings of this study are that the richest one per cent globally – 77 million people – were responsible for 16 per cent of global emissions related to their consumption. That is the same share as the bottom 66 per cent of the global population by income, or 5.11 billion people. Global income disparity amplifies climate injustice The income threshold for being among the global top one per cent was adjusted by country using purchasing power parity – for example in the United States the threshold would be $140,000 Rs 1.16 crore, whereas the Kenyan equivalent would be about $40,000 (Rs 33.33 lakh). The income disparity across nations explains only a portion of the disparity. According to the report, high-income countries (mostly in the global north) were responsible for 40 per cent of global consumption-based CO2 emissions in 2019, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available, while low-income countries (mostly in the global south) contributed a negligible 0.4 per cent. Africa, which has one-sixth of the world’s population, was responsible for only four per cent of emissions. The exorbitant carbon footprint of the 0.1 per cent — from superyachts, private aircraft, and mansions to space voyages and doomsday bunkers — is 77 times that required for global warming to peak at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Within country analyses also painted very stark pictures. For example, in France, the richest one per cent emit as much carbon in one year as the poorest 50 per cent in 10 years. Excluding the carbon associated with his investments, Bernard Arnault, the billionaire founder of Louis Vuitton and richest man in France, has a footprint 1,270 times greater than that of the average Frenchman. “We think that unless governments enact climate policy that is progressive, where you see the people who emit the most being asked to take the biggest sacrifices, then we’re never going to get good politics around this,” he said. These measures could include, for example, a tax on flying more than ten times a year, or a tax on non-green investments that is much higher than the tax on green investments. [caption id=“attachment_13407512” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Africa, which has one-sixth of the world’s population, was responsible for only four per cent of emissions. File image/AP[/caption] While the current report focused on carbon linked only to individual consumption, “the personal consumption of the super-rich is dwarfed by emissions resulting from their investments in companies,” the report found. Nor are the wealthy invested in polluting industries at a similar ratio to any given investor — billionaires are twice as likely to be invested in polluting industries than the average for the Standard & Poor 500, previous Oxfam research has shown. Oxfam International’s interim executive director, Amitabh Behar, told The Guardian: “Not taxing wealth allows the richest to rob from us, ruin our planet and renege on democracy. Taxing extreme wealth transforms our chances to tackle both inequality and the climate crisis. These are trillions of dollars at stake to invest in dynamic 21st-century green governments, but also to re-inject into our democracies.” The worst affected According to the study, persons living in poverty, marginalised ethnic communities, migrants, and women and girls who live and work outside or in homes vulnerable to extreme weather suffer disproportionately. These groups are less likely to have savings, insurance, or social protection, putting them at greater economic and physical danger from floods, droughts, heatwaves, and forest fires. According to the UN, developing countries account for 91 per cent of deaths caused by extreme weather. According to the analysis, it would take around 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 per cent to produce the same amount of carbon that the richest billionaires do in a year. “The super-rich are plundering and polluting the planet to the point of destruction, and those who can least afford it are paying the highest price,” said Chiara Liguori, senior climate justice policy consultant at Oxfam. Climate and inequality crises were “feeding off one another,” she claimed, as reported by The Guardian. With inputs from AFP