The inequality of greenhouse gas emissions

A couple of days ago we looked at country contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions on a per capita basis, which showed us which countries emitted the most greenhouse gases per person. But even that dataset doesn’t tell the full story, because as a general rule the wealthier someone is the higher their greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2020 Oxfam collaborated with the Stockholm Environment Institute to look at emissions between 1990 and 2015. They found that in that period, the richest 10 per cent of the global population accounted for over half (52%) of the emissions added to the atmosphere between 1990 and 2015. The richest one percent were responsible for 15 per cent of emissions during this time – more than all the citizens of the EU and more than twice that of the poorest half of humanity (7%).

The Emissions Inequality Dashboard breaks out this data in a little more detail:

The graphic above shows the outsized contribution to global carbon emissions made by the world’s rich. In 2015, the wealthiest 0.1% were responsible for 4.5% of total emissions, the next 0.9% 10.8%, and the next 9% 33.3%. That means the top 10% accounted for 48.6% of total emissions, compared to the bottom 50% who are responsible for only 7.2%.

There is a clear link between a person’s wealth and their carbon footprint. However despite their increased contribution to climate change, the world’s rich are also more able to shield themselves from the impacts of global warming. We’ll look at the future scenarios for a warmer world at a later date, but it is increasingly likely that the world’s poorest people could end up suffering the most from a crisis not of their making.