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World's richest 1 pct emit as much carbon as bottom two-thirds: report

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Agence France Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Smoke rises from a factory over the capital Skopje covered by smog and pollution in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, 30 December 2022. EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/02/13/smog.jpg"/><figcaption>Smoke rises from a factory over the capital Skopje covered by smog and pollution in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, 30 December 2022.<em> EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>WASHINGTON - The richest one percent of the global population are responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the world&#x27;s poorest two-thirds, or five billion people, according to an analysis published Sunday by the nonprofit Oxfam International.</p><p>While fighting the climate crisis is a shared challenge, not everyone is equally responsible and government policies must be tailored accordingly, Max Lawson, who co-authored the report, told AFP.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/10/13/23/changing-mindset-on-disasters-preparedness-difficult-but-happening-un-rep">Changing mindset on disasters preparedness difficult but happening: UN rep</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/14/23/world-severely-off-track-to-limit-planet-heating-emissions-un">World severely off track to limit planet-heating emissions: UN</a></li></ul><p>&quot;The richer you are, the easier it is to cut both your personal and your investment emissions,&quot; he said. &quot;You don&#x27;t need that third car, or that fourth holiday, or you don’t need to be invested in the cement industry.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Climate Equality: A Planet for the 99%&quot;, was based on research compiled by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and it examined the consumption emissions associated with different income groups up to the year 2019.</p><p>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.</p><p>Among the key findings of this study are that the richest one percent globally -- 77 million people -- were responsible for 16 percent of global emissions related to their consumption.</p><p>That is the same share as the bottom 66 percent of the global population by income, or 5.11 billion people.</p><p>The income threshold for being among the global top one percent 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.</p><p>Within country analyses also painted very stark pictures.</p><p>For example, in France, the richest one percent emit as much carbon in one year as the poorest 50 percent in 10 years.</p><p>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.</p><p>The key message, according to Lawson, was that policy actions must be progressive.</p><p>&quot;We think that 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&#x27;re never going to get good politics around this,&quot; he said.</p><p>These measures could include, for example, a tax on flying more than ten times a year, or a tax on non-green investments that is much higher than the tax on green investments.</p><p>While the current report focused on carbon linked only to individual consumption, &quot;the personal consumption of the super-rich is dwarfed by emissions resulting from their investments in companies,&quot; the report found.</p><p>Nor are the wealthy invested in polluting industries at a similar ratio to any given investor -- billionaires are twice as likely to be invested in polluting industries than the average for the Standard &amp; Poor 500, previous Oxfam research has shown.</p><div><strong>RELATED STORY:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4RvgPTc5mSM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The richest one percent of the global population are responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the world's poorest two-thirds. 