The richest 1% of the world’s population produced as much carbon pollution in 2019 as the five billion people who made up the poorest two-thirds of humanity, according to a report published by Oxfam ahead of the UN Climate Summit, COP28.
The report, ‘Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%’, is based on research with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). It assesses the consumption emissions of different income groups, highlighting the stark gap between the carbon footprints of the super-rich -whose carbon-hungry lifestyles and investments in polluting industries like fossil fuels are driving global warming- and the rest of the world.
With climate resilience increasingly on the agenda, Oxfam analysis shows that that the long-term impacts of a changing climate, such as chronically lower crop yields or water scarcity, have already become a reality.
“Climate change is a burden not shared equally. Governments can and must act now,” says Ms Liguori.
Oxfam is calling for hefty wealth taxes on the super-rich and windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies. It calculates that a global 60% tax on the incomes of the richest 1% would cut emissions by more than the total emissions of the UK and raise GBP5.2 trillion (USD6.4 trillion) a year to pay for the transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
