A new alarm has been raised in the world of climate policies with the recent report by Oxfam in collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
This dossier reveals a worrying reality: the richest 1% of the world’s population emitted in 2019 an amount of CO2 equivalent to that produced by 5 billion people.
This alarm not only highlights the enormous disparity in emissions responsibilities, but also warns of imminent consequences. It is predicted that these emissions will cause 1.3 million deaths by 2030 due to the effects of global warming.
Detailed Study of Emissions by Income
The report provides a detailed analysis of emission levels associated with different income groups in 2019. The top 1% of the planet, consisting of approximately 77 million individuals, was responsible for 16% of global CO2 emissions from consumption.
This figure exceeds the emissions generated by all cars in circulation and other road transport.
These data emerge just before the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, a crucial opportunity to discuss global policies and actions on climate change.
Conclusions
The Oxfam and SEI report highlights a frightening inequality in environmental responsibilities.
The urgency for action becomes pressing, and Cop28 could be one of the last opportunities to impose global policies that radically address this imbalance in emissions.