The organization Oxfam Intermón has just published the report The Climate Heist: How a Few Powerful People Are Leading the World to Disaster, which denounces the disproportionate impact of the richest 0.1% of the world’s population on the climate crisis.
According to the study, a person belonging to that group generates more CO₂ emissions in a single day than someone from the poorest 50% in an entire year. This extreme inequality in the carbon footprint highlights that the climate emergency is not only environmental but also deeply social and economic.
Enormous Emissions and Depleted Budgets
The report, based on data since 1990, estimates that an average super-rich person emits more than 800 kg of CO₂ per day, not only through their direct consumption but also through their business investments.
- 1.9 million tons of CO₂ per year from investments.
- Equivalent to 10,000 private jet trips around the world.
- If all humanity emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be exhausted in less than three weeks.
This budget represents the maximum amount of emissions we can generate without exceeding the threshold of +1.5 °C of global warming, established by the Paris Agreement.
Global Impacts: Deaths, Damage, and Inequality
The emissions of the richest 1% could cause:
- 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century.
- 44 trillion dollars in economic damages for low and lower-middle-income countries by 2050.
The most serious issue: the consequences disproportionately affect those who have contributed the least to the problem, especially in the Global South, with greater impact on women, girls, and indigenous communities.
Figures Revealing the Imbalance of the “Climate Heist”
- Since 1990, emissions from the richest 1% have increased by 13%, and those from the 0.1% by 32%.
- Those of the poorest 50% decreased by 3%.
- A person from the richest 1% consumes 100 times more carbon budget than someone from the poorest 50%.
- A person from the poorest 50% emits, on average, 2 kg of CO₂ per day.
- If everyone emitted like the richest 1%, the carbon budget would be exhausted in less than three months.
Urgencies and Solutions
To avoid exceeding the +1.5 °C threshold, Oxfam proposes:
- 97% reduction in emissions for the richest 1%.
- 99% reduction for the richest 0.1% before 2030.
- Review of emissions derived from investments, which in 2024 amounted to 586 million tons of CO₂, more than the combined emissions of 118 countries.
Climate Justice as a Priority
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, Oxfam Intermón’s report presents an uncomfortable truth: the climate crisis is driven by an economic elite consuming resources at an unsustainable rate, while the most vulnerable populations face its consequences.
The COP30 thus becomes a historic opportunity to demand differentiated climate responsibility, regulation of polluting investments, and redistribution of climate effort.
