In less time than it takes to get bored of your new year’s resolution, the planet’s wealthiest people had already blown through their yearly ration of carbon emissions.
We’re not speaking figuratively, either. A new analysis by the Oxfam Foundation found that the world’s richest 1 percent exceeded their fair share of annual carbon emissions just 10 days into the year.
The global “carbon budget” is based off the amount of carbon dioxide that humankind can collectively spew while keeping us within 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial temperatures. According to Oxfam, the CO2 emissions of the richest 1 percent in just one year will result in an estimated 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the 21st century.
“To stay within the 1.5 degrees limit, the richest 1 percent would have to slash their emissions by 97 percent by 2030,” the study’s press release reads.
Meanwhile, it only took the top 0.1 percent until January 3rd to use up their allotment. Another recent Oxfam report using data from the Stockholm Environment Institute found that the richest 0.1 percent of individuals produce more CO2 pollution in a day than the poorest 50 percent do in a year.
“If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1 percent, the carbon budget would be used up in less than three weeks,” Oxfam implores.
These outrageous figures aren’t just a measure of individual consumption, but of economic power. Since 2024, the top 1 percent has owned more wealth than 95 percent of humanity — not just in cash, but through ownership of powerful assets like mega-corporations and real estate holdings.
The real issue, in other words, isn’t finger wagging about individual consumer choices. The global economy has been built around a vast over-consumption that’s rapidly leading the planet into ecological catastrophe, and the world’s wealthiest are profiting massively. In 2019 for example, an analysis by The Guardian found that just20 fossil fuel companies were responsible for 35 percent of all CO2 and methane pollution since 1965.
Staving off environmental collapse, in other words, will require a difficult confrontation with some of the world’s richest people and the powerful corporations that built their fortunes.
“Time and time again, the research shows that governments have a very clear and simple route to drastically slash carbon emissions and tackle inequality: by targeting the richest polluters,” said Oxfam’s climate change policy lead, Nafkote Dabi. “By cracking down on the gross carbon recklessness of the super-rich, global leaders have an opportunity to put the world back on track for climate targets and unlock net benefits for people and the planet.”
More on climate change: Doomsday Glacier Approaching Catastrophic Collapse
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