Richest 1% emit as much pollution as two-thirds of humanity

Twelve billionaires’ climate emissions outpollute 2.1m homes, analysis finds. These billionaires generate obscene amounts of carbon pollution and include Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos all while we are in extreme danger of climate change https://t.co/pErHRnGohH https://t.co/nBu5qbcjAm pic.twitter.com/Wjl3sfnXVp

— Dr. William J. Ripple (@WilliamJRipple) November 20, 2023

‘The super-rich are plundering and polluting the planet to the point of destruction and it is those who can least afford it who are paying the highest price,’ said Oxfam’s senior climate justice policy advisor, Chiara Liguori.

‘The huge scale of climate inequality revealed in the report highlights how the two crises are inextricably linked – fuelling one another – and the urgent need to ensure the rising costs of climate change fall on those most responsible and able to pay.’

Coming just a month after a study warned that the world is running out of its carbon budget, which is the net amount of CO2 we have left to emit before we exceed the 1.5C warming threshold, Oxfam states that between 1990 and 2019 the richest 1% depleted 12% of said budget, while the bottom 50% used just 5%.

This inequality, Oxfam argues, could be dealt with by taxing the rich – a move that would bring a ‘significant portion of this excessive wealth and profit back into public hands.’

As the charity’s calculations reveal, specifically introducing a wealth tax, a top income tax, and a windfall corporate profits tax would be enough to raise more than US $9 trillion, a huge amount that could be reinvested in green infrastructure and programmes to fight poverty across the globe.

‘Not taxing wealth allows the richest to rob from us, ruin our planet and renege on democracy,’ said Oxfam’s interim executive director, Amitabh Behar.

‘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.’

‘For years we’ve fought to end the era of fossil fuels to save millions of lives and our planet. It’s clearer than ever this will be impossible until we, too, end the era of extreme wealth.’