The richest 1 percent of the world’s population emit twice as much CO2 as the poorest half. This means that about 70 million people cause twice as many emissions as the poorest 3.5 billion people, according to research carried out on behalf of Oxfam Novib.
According to the researchers, the emissions of the richest 1 percent will jeopardize the Paris climate goals. In 2015, it was agreed to limit global warming to 1.5°C. A person in the richest 1 percent would need to reduce their emissions by about 97 percent compared to today to meet the climate target.
space travel
According to Oxfam Novib, that 1 percent has excessive consumption behaviour. They fly a lot and through space travel, such as Amazon owner’s recently Jeff Bezos, an enormous amount of CO2 is emitted, says the development aid organization.
It is expected that the share of the richest group will only grow in the future. In nine years, their CO2 emissions are expected to be 30 times too great to meet the Paris climate goals.
Oxfam Novib believes that governments should do more to limit the emissions of the rich. “All countries must agree to come back next year with stricter agreements to reduce warming,” says Hilde Stroot, climate expert at Oxfam Novib. “There is a lot of profit to be made with the very rich, so making airline tickets more expensive with tax will get you a long way.”
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