Study Finds the Wealthiest 10% Account for Two-Thirds of Global Warming

Researchers stated on Wednesday that the wealthiest 10 percent of people worldwide are accountable for two-thirds of global warming since 1990. They reported that the consumption and investment patterns of the wealthy have significantly heightened the risk of lethal heatwaves and droughts, in the first study to measure the effect of concentrated private wealth on extreme climate events.

Wealthiest 1% Linked to Disproportionate Climate Impact, Study Reveals

“We connect the carbon footprints of the wealthiest individuals directly to actual climate impacts,” said lead author Sarah Schoengart, a scientist at ETH Zurich, in an interview with AFP. “It’s a shift from simply accounting for carbon to holding individuals accountable for their climate impact.”

The study, published in Nature Climate Change, revealed that, compared to the global average, the wealthiest one percent contributed 26 times more to once-in-a-century heatwaves and 17 times more to droughts in the Amazon.

Emissions from the wealthiest 10 percent in China and the United States—together responsible for nearly half of global carbon pollution—have each caused a two-to-threefold increase in heat extremes.

The burning of fossil fuels and deforestation have raised Earth’s average surface temperature by 1.3 degrees Celsius, primarily in the past 30 years.

Schoengart and her team used economic data and climate models to track emissions from various global income groups and evaluate their effects on specific climate-enhanced extreme weather events.

The researchers also highlighted the importance of emissions tied to financial investments, not just those from lifestyle and personal consumption.

“Climate action that overlooks the disproportionate responsibility of the wealthiest members of society risks missing one of the most effective ways to mitigate future damage,” said senior author Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, head of the Integrated Climate Impacts Research Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna.

Wealth tax on billionaires

He pointed out that capital owners could be held responsible for climate impacts through progressive taxes on wealth and carbon-heavy investments.

Previous studies have demonstrated that taxing emissions linked to assets is fairer than widespread carbon taxes, which often place a heavier burden on lower-income individuals.

Recent efforts to increase taxes on the super-rich and multinational corporations have largely stalled.

Last year, Brazil, as the host of the G20, proposed a two-percent tax on the net worth of individuals with assets over $1 billion.

While G20 leaders agreed to “cooperate to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed,” no concrete action has been taken since.

In 2021, nearly 140 countries agreed to work towards a global corporate tax for multinational companies, with almost half supporting a minimum rate of 15 percent, but those discussions have also come to a standstill.

According to Forbes, nearly a third of the world’s billionaires are from the United States—more than China, India, and Germany combined.

Anti-poverty organization Oxfam reports that the wealthiest 1 percent have accumulated $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade.

Read the original article on: Sciencealert

Read more: Global Heating Must Reach it’s Limit by 2026