The carbon footprint of a super-rich European, accumulated from nearly a week of using super yachts and private jets, matches the lifetime carbon footprint of someone in the world’s poorest 1 percent, a new Oxfam report reveals today. The first-of-its-kind study, “Carbon Inequality Kills”, tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and comes ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, amidst growing fears that climate breakdown is accelerating, driven largely by the emissions of the richest people.
“The super-rich in Europe are treating our planet like their personal playground. Their dirty investments, their private jets and yachts are not just symbols of excess; they are fuelling inequality, hunger and even death”, said Chiara Putaturo, Oxfam EU tax expert.
The report presents detailed new evidence of how the super-rich’s outsized emissions are accelerating climate breakdown and wreaking havoc on lives and economies. The world’s poorest countries and communities have done the least to cause the climate crisis, yet they experience its most dangerous consequences.
Oxfam’s analysis found that:
- One ultra-rich European takes an average of 140 flights a year, spending 267 hours in the air and producing as much carbon as the average European would in over 112 years.
- In the same period, an ultra-rich European on their yachts emits, on average, as much carbon as an ordinary European would in 585 years.
If the world continues its current emissions, the carbon budget (the amount of CO2 that can still be added to the atmosphere without causing global temperatures to rise above 1.5°C) will be depleted in about four years. However, if everyone’s emissions matched those of the richest 1 percent, the carbon budget would be used up in under five months. And if everyone started emitting as much carbon as the private jets and superyachts of the average billionaire in Oxfam’s study, it would be gone in two days.
Billionaires’ lifestyle emissions dwarf those of ordinary people, but the emissions from their investments are dramatically higher still — the average investment emissions of 50 of the world’s richest billionaires are around 340 times their emissions from private jets and superyachts combined. Through these investments, billionaires have huge influence over some of the world’s biggest corporations and are driving us over the edge of climate disaster.
Nearly 40 percent of billionaire investments analysed in Oxfam’s research are in highly polluting industries: oil, mining, shipping and cement. The total investment emissions of 36 of the EU’s richest billionaires are equivalent to the annual emissions of over 4.5 million Europeans.
Oxfam’s analysis details three critical areas, providing national and regional breakdowns, where the emissions of the wealthiest 1 percent since 1990 are already having — and are projected to have — devastating consequences:
- Global inequality. The emissions of the richest 1 percent in the EU have caused global economic output to drop by 179 billion international US dollars since 1990. The biggest impact will be in countries least responsible for climate breakdown. Globally, low- and lower-middle-income countries will lose about 2.5 percent of their cumulative GDP between 1990 and 2050 due to the climate crisis. South Asia, South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will lose 3 percent, 2.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. High-income countries, on the other hand, will accrue economic gains.
- Hunger. The emissions of the richest 1 percent in the EU have caused crop losses due the climate crisis. These crop losses could have provided enough calories to feed nearly 900,000 people a year between 1990 and 2023. This will rise to 1.7 million people annually between 2023 and 2050.
- Death. The emissions of the richest 1 percent in the EU are causing excess heat-related deaths of nearly 80,000 people between 2020 and 2120.
“The super-rich must foot the bill for their carbon footprint, not ordinary Europeans. This means more taxes on the super-rich, like wealth taxes, and higher taxes on superyachts and private jets”, said Putaturo.
Notas para editores
Chiara Putaturo is available for interview and comment.
Please see here for photos from a stunt Oxfam did in April this year outside the European Parliament calling for a wealth tax.
Download Oxfam’s report “Carbon Inequality Kills”, executive summary and the methodology. The research found that:
- Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average emit more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts in just over an hour and a half than the average person does in their entire lifetime.
- Since 1990, the emissions of the richest 1% have caused global economic output to drop by $2.9 trillion.
- Emissions from the richest 1% have caused crop losses that could have provided enough calories to feed 14.5 million people per year between 1990 and 2023. This will rise to 46 million people annually between 2023 and 2050.
Based on the same methodology, Oxfam found that:
- In the last year, the superyachts and jets of one of the 31 of the richest in the EU emitted in almost a week what someone in the world's poorest 1% emits in their entire life (63.9 tons of carbon). Data on jets and superyachts was collected for 31 EU billionaires and centimillionaires for whom we were able to collect data.
- In the last year, all the superyachts and jets of these 31 richest in the EU emitted 107,550 tons of carbon in total. That is equivalent to the emissions of 13,393 Europeans. The EU per capita average emission is 8.03 tons.
- Due to their superyachts and jets, 31 of the wealthiest individuals in the EU emit 3,469 tons per capita, which is 432 times more carbon per person than the average European.
- In the last year, 36 of the super-rich in the EU emitted 36 million tons of carbon through their investments. That is equivalent to the annual emissions of 4.5 million Europeans. Emissions data was collected for 36 EU billionaires and centimillionaires for whom we were able to collect data.
- In 2019, the richest 10% in the EU emitted 1.01 billion tons of carbon, more than the 0.92 billion tons of carbon emitted by the poorest 50% in the EU.
- Between 1990 and 2020, the richest 10% in the EU were responsible for 35.5 billion tons of carbon emissions, more than the 33.9 billion tons of carbon emitted by the poorest 50% in the EU.
Ahead of COP29, Oxfam calls to the EU and EU governments to:
- Reduce the emissions of the richest. Governments must introduce permanent income and wealth taxes on the top 1 percent, ban or punitively tax carbon-intensive luxury consumption —starting with private jets and superyachts— and regulate corporations and investors to drastically and fairly reduce their emissions.
- Make rich polluters pay. Climate finance needs are enormous and escalating, especially in Global South countries that are withstanding the worst of climate impacts. A wealth tax up to 5% on European multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise 286.5 billion euros annually.
- Reimagine our economies. The current economic system, designed to accumulate wealth for the already rich through relentless extraction and consumption, has long undermined a truly sustainable and equitable future for all. Governments need to commit to ensuring that, both global and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 percent are no higher than the bottom 40 percent.
355,832 EU citizens signed a petition asking the European Commission to introduce a European wealth tax to finance the ecological and social transition.
Based on Oxfam’s 2024 report “Inequality Inc.”, Oxfam calculates that a wealth tax on the billionaires and multimillionaires in the EU up to 5% would generate 286.5 billion euros in revenue annually.
Oxfam’s analysis estimates the changes in economic output (GDP), changes in yields of major crops (it considers maize, wheat, and soy, which are among the most common crops globally) and excess deaths due to changes in temperatures that can be attributed to the emissions of the richest people. Economic damages are expressed in International Dollars ($), which adjusts for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, if invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures by 2030, billionaires’ wealth could cover the entire funding gap between what governments have pledged and what is needed to keep global warming below 1.5⁰C.
Información de contacto
Jade Tenwick | jade.tenwick@oxfam.org | Work: +32 (0) 473 56 22 60 | Personal +32 (0) 484 81 22 94
Chiara Putaturo is available for interview and comment.
Please see here for photos from a stunt Oxfam did in April this year outside the European Parliament calling for a wealth tax.
Download Oxfam’s report “Carbon Inequality Kills”, executive summary and the methodology. The research found that:
- Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average emit more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts in just over an hour and a half than the average person does in their entire lifetime.
- Since 1990, the emissions of the richest 1% have caused global economic output to drop by $2.9 trillion.
- Emissions from the richest 1% have caused crop losses that could have provided enough calories to feed 14.5 million people per year between 1990 and 2023. This will rise to 46 million people annually between 2023 and 2050.
Based on the same methodology, Oxfam found that:
- In the last year, the superyachts and jets of one of the 31 of the richest in the EU emitted in almost a week what someone in the world's poorest 1% emits in their entire life (63.9 tons of carbon). Data on jets and superyachts was collected for 31 EU billionaires and centimillionaires for whom we were able to collect data.
- In the last year, all the superyachts and jets of these 31 richest in the EU emitted 107,550 tons of carbon in total. That is equivalent to the emissions of 13,393 Europeans. The EU per capita average emission is 8.03 tons.
- Due to their superyachts and jets, 31 of the wealthiest individuals in the EU emit 3,469 tons per capita, which is 432 times more carbon per person than the average European.
- In the last year, 36 of the super-rich in the EU emitted 36 million tons of carbon through their investments. That is equivalent to the annual emissions of 4.5 million Europeans. Emissions data was collected for 36 EU billionaires and centimillionaires for whom we were able to collect data.
- In 2019, the richest 10% in the EU emitted 1.01 billion tons of carbon, more than the 0.92 billion tons of carbon emitted by the poorest 50% in the EU.
- Between 1990 and 2020, the richest 10% in the EU were responsible for 35.5 billion tons of carbon emissions, more than the 33.9 billion tons of carbon emitted by the poorest 50% in the EU.
Ahead of COP29, Oxfam calls to the EU and EU governments to:
- Reduce the emissions of the richest. Governments must introduce permanent income and wealth taxes on the top 1 percent, ban or punitively tax carbon-intensive luxury consumption —starting with private jets and superyachts— and regulate corporations and investors to drastically and fairly reduce their emissions.
- Make rich polluters pay. Climate finance needs are enormous and escalating, especially in Global South countries that are withstanding the worst of climate impacts. A wealth tax up to 5% on European multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise 286.5 billion euros annually.
- Reimagine our economies. The current economic system, designed to accumulate wealth for the already rich through relentless extraction and consumption, has long undermined a truly sustainable and equitable future for all. Governments need to commit to ensuring that, both global and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 percent are no higher than the bottom 40 percent.
355,832 EU citizens signed a petition asking the European Commission to introduce a European wealth tax to finance the ecological and social transition.
Based on Oxfam’s 2024 report “Inequality Inc.”, Oxfam calculates that a wealth tax on the billionaires and multimillionaires in the EU up to 5% would generate 286.5 billion euros in revenue annually.
Oxfam’s analysis estimates the changes in economic output (GDP), changes in yields of major crops (it considers maize, wheat, and soy, which are among the most common crops globally) and excess deaths due to changes in temperatures that can be attributed to the emissions of the richest people. Economic damages are expressed in International Dollars ($), which adjusts for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, if invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures by 2030, billionaires’ wealth could cover the entire funding gap between what governments have pledged and what is needed to keep global warming below 1.5⁰C.
Jade Tenwick | jade.tenwick@oxfam.org | Work: +32 (0) 473 56 22 60 | Personal +32 (0) 484 81 22 94