The richest one per cent of the global population are responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the world’s poorest two-thirds, or five billion people, according to an analysis published Sunday by the nonprofit Oxfam International.
While fighting the climate crisis is a shared challenge, not everyone is equally responsible and government policies must be tailored accordingly, said Max Lawson, who co-authored the report.
“Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%,” was based on research compiled by the Stockholm Environment Institute. 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.
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.
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, whereas the Kenyan equivalent would be about $40,000.
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.
The key message, according to Lawson, was that policy actions must be progressive.
“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.
