Richest 1% account for more carbon emissions than poorest 66%, report says

[Celerity]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/richest-1-account-for-more-carbon-emissions-than-poorest-66-report-says



‘Polluter elite’ are plundering the planet to point of destruction, says Oxfam after comprehensive study of climate inequality

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/richest-1-account-for-more-carbon-emissions-than-poorest-66-report-says

The richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency, a report says. The most comprehensive study of global climate inequality ever undertaken shows that this elite group, made up of 77 million people including billionaires, millionaires and those paid more than US$140,000 (£112,500) a year, accounted for 16% of all CO2 emissions in 2019 – enough to cause more than a million excess deaths due to heat, according to the report.

For the past six months, the Guardian has worked with Oxfam, the Stockholm Environment Institute and other experts on an exclusive basis to produce a special investigation, The Great Carbon Divide. It explores the causes and consequences of carbon inequality and the disproportionate impact of super-rich individuals, who have been termed “the polluter elite”. Climate justice will be high on the agenda of this month’s UN Cop28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates. The Oxfam report shows that while the wealthiest 1% tend to live climate-insulated, air-conditioned lives, their emissions – 5.9bn tonnes of CO2 in 2019 – are responsible for immense suffering.

Using a “mortality cost” formula – used by the US Environmental Protection Agency, among others – of 226 excess deaths worldwide for every million tonnes of carbon, the report calculates that the emissions from the 1% alone would be enough to cause the heat-related deaths of 1.3 million people over the coming decades. Over the period from 1990 to 2019, the accumulated emissions of the 1% were equivalent to wiping out last year’s harvests of EU corn, US wheat, Bangladeshi rice and Chinese soya beans. The suffering falls disproportionately upon people living in poverty, marginalised ethnic communities, migrants and women and girls, who live and work outside or in homes vulnerable to extreme weather, according to the research.

These groups are less likely to have savings, insurance or social protection, which leaves them more economically, as well as physically, at risk from floods, drought, heatwaves and forest fires. The UN says developing countries account for 91% of deaths related to extreme weather.The report finds that it would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year. “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. The twin crises of climate and inequality were “fuelling one another”, she said.

snip

[multigraincracker]

1. Eat the rich.

Keeps sounding better all of the time.

Or, we can stop reproducing. My carbon footprint ends in about 15 to 20 years at best. I never had kids. Other than that, I do try to be green.

Thanks for the post.

[Celerity]

4. Motorhead - Eat The Rich (Official Video)

[JanMichael]

8. Awesome movie too.

[marble falls]

10. Don't even need favas or chiantis.

[hunter]

18. Many people posting here ARE the rich.

What's 1% of eight billion?

Generally, the people with the smallest environmental footprints live in cities, don't own cars, have mostly vegan diets, and never fly anywhere.

"Wealthy" can be as simple as a flush toilet in a room with a door you can shut, a place to take hot showers or baths, clean water flowing out of the taps that won't make you sick, a healthy diet, and a safe place to sleep that's not too hot or too cold.

It's damned near impossible to reduce your environmental footprint if you've got an excess of money beyond what is needed to provide these basic comforts.

[meadowlander]

2. We're all at the mercy of sociopaths, narcissists, and hoarders.

If you haven't seen Queen of Versailles I highly recommend it. The two scenes I remember most are the mom finding a dead pet turtle and trying to scold one of her seven kids for not feeding it and the kids all responded "We had a turtle?" And then the scenes of her compulsively buying 10 copies of Monopoly for no reason, getting the nannies to haul it into the house and then piling the bags on top of all the other bags of unopened toys for her kids she was paying someone else to raise.

These people are so far past the point where their wealth is bringing them any kind of satisfaction or joy in life. They're just consuming because their lives have no meaning and they don't know what else to do with themselves.

[OldBaldy1701E]

6. See, that is funny to me.

The only reason we are at the mercy of the rich is that we continue to say we are. All we have to do is stop giving that green piece of paper such power over our society...

BBWWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

(I knew I could not say that with a straight face. We are too far down the rabbit hole when it comes to any common sense regarding the hold that greed has on our society.)

[DFW]

3. Not surprising, really.

Those people whose jobs (or financial status) make or allow them to travel, and live in either heated or cooled residences will cause more pollution than those who don’t. Those who buy food in packaging that includes plastic or metal will cause more pollution than those who don’t. Obviously, the world is not going to return to the ecological level of the Xingu, but we are already paying the price for it.

[Old Crank]

5. Points to the need

For a carbon tax on a lot of these things. Set a normal use carbon level then tax carbon emissions on a sliding scale above that. Tax on frequent fliers.

[ck4829]

7. K&R

[brooklynite]

9. Before you start targeting your favorite billionaires...

remember that this is a WORLD analysis, so the "richest 1%" represents 80 million people, and the "poorest 66%" is heavily skewed towards the third world. Are you sure you're not part of the problem?

[redqueen]

12. Here's the breakdown. Yes I'm sure.

If you earn $60,000 a year after tax and you don’t have kids, you’re in the richest 1 percent of the world’s population.

If you have a household income of $130,000 after tax and you’ve got a partner and one kid, you’re also in the richest 1 percent.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/9/15/23874111/charity-philanthropy-americans-global-rich

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. We can break it down further with the details and incomes thresholds in the main report

Income (which I think is individual, rather than household, but I could be wrong) bands, and the average CO2 emissions for those bands:

$0-$4,999 (poorest 50%): 0.72 tonnes CO2 per person
$5,000-$40,999 (next 40%): 5.1 tonnes
$41,000-$139,999 (next 9%): 18 tonnes
$140,000-$499,999 (next 0.9%): 61 tonnes
$500,000-$1,799,999 (next 0.09%): 216 tonnes
$1,800,000+ (final 0.01%): 260 tonnes

The average income of each band, and the CO2 they emit, is pretty proportional, until the final one - once your income is much over a million, there's not much more people do to emit more CO2, overall (a few individuals may, of course).

[BannonsLiver]

16. I appreciate the fact you are always 100 percent in brand.

[former9thward]

11. The poorest 66% want the standard of living of the 1%

So their carbon emissions will continue to increase exponentially as they move to that goal. Even if the richer nations curb emissions they are not going to stop the poorer nations from vastly increasing their carbon footprint.

[redqueen]

13. Why are you assuming everyone wants to live such an inconsiderate, harmful life?

Many, many people look down on those who prioritize their comfort and convenience above the health of the planet.

[former9thward]

21. I live in the real world.

Countries like China and India are building coal power plants like mad and increasing their number of cars every year. There is no evidence that average people in the countries of the 66% believe as you do.

[EllieBC]

14. Why are we passing the costs to the working poor then?

Because yes that’s exactly what you do with all of the user based taxes.

[redqueen]

17. We all know why. The rich control the government.

Until that changes little else will.

[EllieBC]

19. I get that. But we have to stop telling the

working class how we all have to help when their burden percentage wise is constantly unfair.

[redqueen]

22. Indeed. The fossil fuel industry is the major driver

by far. I can't wait for more lawsuits to start now that it's proven that they knew about the danger of climate change and actively hid the truth.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Graphic showing the variation inside countries

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/revealed-huge-climate-impact-of-the-middle-classes-carbon-divide

[hydrolastic]

23. In the nineties I worked on huge yachts

at the time it was 30,000 dollars to fill up the tank. When gas was 2.00 a gallon. Huge MTU's or Detroit diesel (16v92's). A lot of them have no home port and are in nearly constant movement. If people saw how the rich lived and the level of excess there would be rules made.

[Celerity]

24. thank you for another great post Muriel, you have been one of my favourite posters here for ages