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According to one study, the richest percentage of the world’s population expels more than twice as many climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere than the poorest half of humanity. This emerges from a report the development organization Oxfam published before the general debate at the 75th UN General Assembly in New York that began on Tuesday. Oxfam asked for the COtwo-Restrict consumption by the rich, invest more in public infrastructure and restructure the economy in a climate-friendly way.
The report focuses on the climate significant years 1990 to 2015, in which emissions doubled worldwide:
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The richest ten percent (630 million) were more than half (52 percent) des COtwoEmissions were responsible.
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I have the richest percentage (63 million) alone 15 percent accomplished,
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while the poorest half of the world’s population only by seven percent he was responsible.
The catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis are already being felt in many places. “This is due to a policy that focuses on consumer incentives, promises steady growth and economically divides the world into winners and losers,” said Ellen Ehmke, an expert on social inequality at Oxfam Germany. “The poorest pay the price for the consumer frenzy of a rich minority.”
The biggest drivers of emissions in Germany too: air traffic and SUVs
In Germany, according to Oxfam, the richest 10 percent or 8.3 million people account for 26 percent of German CO.twoEmissions in the investigated period. At 41.5 million people, the poorest half of the German population, five times as large, only consumed slightly more at 29 percent. One lever in the fight against climate change is traffic, especially air traffic. Oxfam is particularly critical of urban SUVs, which were the second largest generator of emissions between 2010 and 2018.
“We have to solve the climate crisis and the inequality crisis together,” Ehmke said. Excess COtwoThe consumption of the wealthiest is at everyone’s expense and must be restricted. “Taxes for weather-damaging sport utility vehicles and frequent flights would be a first step.”
