According to a report released by Oxfam on Monday, the 1 percent of the worldwide population who are the wealthiest are accountable for nearly the same proportion of carbon emissions as the 5 billion people who make up the 66% of the world’s impoverished.

According to a research done by the charity in collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute, both groups were responsible for 16% of emissions in 2019.

It was revealed that the richest 10% of people in the world were accountable for 50% of global emissions, while the poorest 50% were only accountable for 8%.

According to the survey, among the top 1%, personal consumption in the United States accounts for one-third of carbon emissions; China and the Gulf countries follow.

According to the survey, the top 1%, or 77 million people, earn an average of $310,000 annually and are predicted to have an income barrier of $140,000.

According to an Oxfam analysis, the richest 1% may enjoy comfortable, air-conditioned lives, but their emissions—5.9 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2019—cause a great deal of suffering for everyone else.

The study estimates that the emissions from the 1% alone would be sufficient to cause the deaths of 1.3 million people from heat-related causes over the next few decades. This is based on a “mortality cost” formula, which is used by the US Environmental Protection Agency among others. It calculates that there are 226 excess deaths globally for every million tonnes of carbon.

The cumulative emissions of the 1% from 1990 to 2019 were enough to destroy the previous year’s harvests of Chinese soy beans, US wheat, EU corn and Bangladeshi rice.

According to the research, the burden is disproportionately experienced by those who are poor, members of marginalised ethnic communities, migrants, women, and girls who work outside or live in dwellings that are susceptible to harsh weather. These groups are more economically and physically vulnerable to natural disasters like heat waves, droughts, floods, and forest fires because they are less likely to have savings, insurance, or social protection. According to the UN, 91% of deaths linked to extreme weather occur in developing nations.

According to the analysis, it would take an individual in the bottom 99% of the population 1,500 years to produce the same amount of carbon that the wealthiest billionaires do annually.

“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 Chiara Liguori, Oxfam’s senior climate justice policy adviser. She claimed that the twin challenges of inequality and climate change were “fuelling one another.”

The discrepancy is only partially explained by the wealth divide between countries. According to the report, high-income countries (primarily in the global north) accounted for 40% of global consumption-based CO2 emissions in 2019—the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available. Low-income countries (primarily in the global south) contributed a negligible 0.4%. Africa accounted for only 4% of global emissions, although being home to nearly one in six people.

Inequality between nations is a less talked-about but rapidly expanding issue.

Although the majority of billionaires are still white men with homes in the US and Europe, this powerful group of ultra-wealthy individuals is becoming more dispersed over the globe. Even more scattered are the millionaires.

According to the paper, this is bad news for the climate in a number of ways. Superyachts, private planes, mansions, space travel, and doomsday bunkers are just a few examples of the excessive carbon footprint of the 0.1%, which is 77 times greater than the upper limit required for global warming to peak at 1.5C.

Many extremely wealthy people’s company shares are quite polluting. The research claims that in addition to controlling media companies and social networks, this elite also employs lobbyists, advertising, and PR firms, and socialises with prominent politicians who are frequently among the richest 1% to further their immense and expanding political clout.

For instance, in the US, it is believed that one in four members of Congress has equity worth between $33 million and $93 million in fossil fuel businesses. According to the research, this contributes to the explanation of why global emissions are still rising and why, in defiance of their international commitments to phase out carbon emissions, governments in the global north gave $1.8 trillion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry in 2020.

To help the most vulnerable, lessen inequality, and finance the switch to renewable energy, Oxfam is advocating for high wealth taxes on the extremely wealthy and windfall taxes on fossil fuel corporations. According to the report, a 60% tax on the incomes of the richest 1% would generate $6.4 trillion year and reduce emissions by 695 million tonnes, which is greater than the UK’s carbon footprint in 2019.

Amitabh Behar, interim executive director of Oxfam International, stated: “It is the richest people who steal from us, destroy our planet, and betray democracy when wealth is not taxed.” Taxing extreme wealth changes the opportunities we have to address the climate issue and inequality. Trillions of dollars are at risk, not only for reviving our democracy but also for investing in vibrant green governments for the twenty-first century.

(Adapted from TheGuardian.com)

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