A joint report by The Guardian and Oxfam has revealed that the wealthiest 1% of the world’s population emits more carbon than the poorest 66%.
The 1% comprises 77 million people, including billionaires and millionaires, contributing around 16% of global CO2 emissions in 2019, enough to cause 1 million heat-related deaths.
The polluter elite
The report blamed “the polluter elite” for putting the lives of millions at the expense of their own luxuries.
The super-rich has emitted more than 5.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide just in the year 2019, which is far more than the emissions of entire countries in the south.
Poor paying the highest price
The report mentioned that it’ll take 1,500 years for the 99% of the poor to emit such an enormous amount of CO2 to the environment.
“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,” Chiara Liguori, senior climate justice policy adviser for Oxfam, said.
