Billionaires are ‘burning our world’: Shocking study reveals how the richest 1% cause more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%

• Report says ‘super-rich are burning our world’ from excessive carbon emissions
• READ MORE: One BILLION people will die from climate change by 2100

‘Super-rich’ billionaires are ‘burning our world’, according to a new report that reveals the ‘obscene inequality’ that’s driving global warming. 

The richest one per cent emit as much carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as the poorest two-thirds of the population of the planet, the new research by Oxfam says.

Plutocrats identified by the report include American Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim and Tesla and X boss Elon Musk. 

These ‘white male billionaires are the big winners’, it says, while women, people of colour and indigenous people ‘are on the sharp end of climate breakdown’. 

‘Vast’ and ‘shocking’ emissions from these men and many others come from their huge collection of investments, houses, private superyachts, planes and more. 

‘Vast’ and ‘shocking’ emissions from the likes of Elon Musk arise from their huge collection of investments, houses, private superyachts, planes and more. Pictured is the the private jet of Musk in Berlin in 2020

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), thinks we’ll have to evacuate Earth for Mars because of the climate damage to this planet 

Climate inequality: Key findings  

• The richest 1 per cent (77 million people) were responsible for 16 per cent of global consumption emissions in 2019 – more than all car and road transport emissions. 
• The richest 10 per cent accounted for half (50 per cent) of emissions. 
• It would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 per cent to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year.
• Since the 1990s, the richest 1 per cent have burned through more than twice as much carbon as the bottom half of humanity. 
• Carbon emissions of the richest 1 per cent are set to be 22 times greater than the level compatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement in 2030. By contrast, the emissions of the poorest half of the global population are set to remain at one-fifth of the 1.5°C compatible level. 

In fact, many of the world’s super-rich are preparing their escape from Earth in the event of climate breakdown, the authors point out. 

For example, Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), is looking to evacuate Earth for Mars.

Oxfam’s new report – Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99% – was based on research with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and published by the Guardian. 

The study’s findings highlight the gap between the carbon footprints of the super-rich, whose lifestyles and investments in fossil fuels are carbon-heavy, and the rest of the world.

Chiara Liguori, Oxfam’s senior climate justice policy adviser, said that the super-rich are ‘plundering the planet’ while the poor pay the price.

‘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,’ she said.

‘The gap between the super-rich and the rest of us is stark. It would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 per cent to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year.

‘This is fundamentally unfair.’ 

One of the report’s forewords is written by 20-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has an estimated net worth of $1 million. 

According to Thunberg, ‘the world’s richest continue to get richer’ and are ‘exploiting people and the planet for their own gain’ despite the fact 2023 is on track to become ‘the hottest on record’. 

20-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (pictured) said ‘the world’s richest continue to get richer’ and are ‘exploiting people and the planet for their own gain’

The richest 1 per cent 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 the report 

READ MORE One BILLION people will die from climate change by 2100, study claims

Potential causes of death due to climate change include flooding, extreme weather, wildfires. Pictured, a bushfire in Australia 

‘What we are seeing now is only the very beginning of a changing climate caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases,’ she said. 

‘We are not equally to blame for these emissions, nor for the damage they cause.

‘They have stolen our planet’s resources to fuel their lavish lifestyles.

‘A short trip on a private jet will produce more carbon than the average person emits all year. 

‘They are sacrificing us at the altar of their greed.’ 

For the report, the team of researchers, advisors, politicians used prior studies on national emissions and expenditure data to assess the consumption emissions of different income groups.

These included the super-rich and rich people (the top 1 per cent and 10 per cent by income, respectively), the middle income group (top 40 per cent) and the poorest (bottom 50 per cent). 

They used a ‘mortality cost’ formula of 226 excess deaths worldwide for every million tonnes of carbon emitted to see how life-threatening global warming is for citizens per country. 

Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim has a net worth of $64 billion and is responsible for ‘obscene’ carbon emissions from cars and planes, houses, yachts and more, according to the report

The richest 1 per cent (77 million people) were responsible for 16 per cent of global consumption emissions in 2019 – more than all car and road transport emissions. The richest 10 per cent accounted for half (50 per cent) of emissions

The richest 1 per cent emit as much planet-heating pollution as two-thirds of humanity according to Oxfam

READ MORE This summer was officially the hottest on RECORD 

This graph ranks Earth’s hottest summers on record (the top five at the far right are 2023, 2019, 2016, 2022 and 2020)

Emissions of the richest 1 per cent will cause 1.3 million heat-related excess deaths – roughly equivalent to the population of Dublin – with most of these deaths occurring between 2020 and 2030, they found. 

These carbon emissions from the richest 1 per cent cancel out the benefit of 1 million wind turbines, which offer a source of renewable energy an alternative to carbon-belching coal and gas. 

In comparison, it would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 per cent to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year. 

The super rich are responsible for the greatest proportion of greenhouse gas emissions because they own more assets with big carbon footprints, such as cars, planes and buildings.  

When the these gases enter the atmosphere, they trap heat and contribute to the warming of the climate.

This is already melting ice in the polar regions, and this meltwater is entering the oceans, gradually causing a rise in sea levels and severe flooding.

The study authors say the poorest countries are hit harder by climate change impacts, partly because they can’t spend on climate mitigation measures, such as flood defences or air conditioning, leading to higher risk of death. 

For example, the death toll from floods is seven times higher in the most unequal countries compared to more equal ones. 

Larry Ellison, pictured here in 2019, is a US businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded software company Oracle. He was a net worth of $88 billion, the report says 

Pictured, flooding in Ayolas, Paraguay, on November 3, 2023. It comes ahead of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 will be held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai

Carbon emissions of the richest 1 per cent are set to be 22 times greater than the level compatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement in 2030.  

The report comes ahead of the next UN Climate Summit, COP28, which takes places in Dubai from November 30 to December 12. 

World leaders will come together to discuss climate change and agree measures to limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement, but climate justice should be high on the agenda. 

‘Governments globally, including the UK, need to tackle the twin crises of inequality and climate change, by targeting the excessive emissions of the super-rich by taxing them more,’ Liguori said. 

‘This would raise much needed revenue that could be directed to a range of vital social spending needs, including a fair switch to clean, renewable energy as well as fulfilling our international commitments to support communities who are already bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.’

Fossil fuels versus renewable energy sources

Renewable sources:

Solar – light and heat from the sun. 

Wind – through wind turbines to turn electric generators

Hydro – captured from falling or fast-running water

Tidal – energy from the rise and fall of sea levels

Geothermal – energy generated and stored in the Earth

Biomass – organic material burnt to release stored energy from the sun

Although nuclear energy is considered clean energy its inclusion in the renewable energy list is a subject of major debate.

Nuclear energy itself is a renewable energy source. But the material used in nuclear power plants – uranium – is a non-renewable.

Fossil fuels

Renewables contrast with the more harmful fossil fuels – oil, coal and gas.

They are considered fossil fuels because they were formed from the fossilised, buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. 

Because of their origins, fossil fuels have a high carbon content, but when they are burned, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the air. 

Source:  EDF Energy /Stanford University

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