Data obtained by The Guardian reveals a startling reality: the wealthiest 10% of individuals in many countries produce carbon emissions up to 40 times more than the poorest 10% of their compatriots. This staggering inequality poses a significant challenge to efforts aimed at curbing emissions and addressing the climate crisis.
Experts assert that neglecting this immense divide when crafting emissions reduction policies can trigger backlash over the affordability of climate action.
Notably, the world’s wealthiest 10% often comprise the middle class in developed nations—individuals earning more than approximately $40,000 (£32,000) annually. While the opulent lifestyles of the top 1% garner attention, it is the 10% who bear the responsibility for half of the global emissions, making their role pivotal in combating the climate crisis.
As the Cop28 UN climate summit commences on November 30, the urgency to secure a sustainable future for humanity grows more pressing with each passing day.
Climate negotiations initiated in the 1990s primarily focused on inequality in carbon emissions between affluent and impoverished nations. However, over the past three decades, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Today, the most pronounced disparities in emissions exist within individual countries, reversing the original dynamic. Nonetheless, international support for the poorest and least polluting nations remains crucial.
Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) paints a vivid picture of energy-related CO2 emissions per capita in a dozen major nations, along with the 27-member European Union, for the year 2021. Notably, in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Japan, the top 10% exhibit carbon footprints approximately 15 times larger than the bottom 10%. Conversely, in China, South Africa, Brazil, and India, the wealthiest 10% are responsible for emissions that are 30 to 40 times greater than the poorest 10%. Across all these countries, the emissions of the top 10% match or exceed those of at least the bottom 50%. In both the United States and China, the situation is even more imbalanced, with the emissions of the wealthiest 10% surpassing those of the bottom 70% combined. South Africa stands as the most extreme example, with the top 10% contributing emissions equivalent to the remaining 90%.
The excessive emissions of the wealthiest 10% are heavily driven by transportation, particularly car usage, which generates emissions 20 to 40 times higher than the transport-related emissions of the poorest 10% in the analyzed countries.
In the United States and Canada, road transport accounts for approximately one-third of the top 10%’s carbon footprint. Remarkably, the transport-related emissions of the wealthiest 10% in these countries mirror the transport footprint of the bottom 70% of the population.
Another significant factor is emissions embedded in consumer goods, such as electronics and furniture, which are 20 to 50 times greater for the wealthiest 10%, constituting roughly one-third of total emissions in most nations.