World's richest 10% caused two thirds of global warming: study
How the rich consume and invest has substantially increased the risk of deadly heatwaves and drought, they reported in the first study to quantify the impact of concentrated private wealth on extreme climate events.
"We link the carbon footprints of the wealthiest individuals directly to real-world climate impacts," lead author Sarah Schoengart, a scientist at ETH Zurich, told AFP.
"It's a shift from carbon accounting toward climate accountability."
Compared to the global average, for example, the richest one percent contributed 26 times more to once-a-century heatwaves, and 17 times more to droughts in the Amazon, according to the findings, published in Nature Climate Change.
Emissions from the wealthiest 10 percent in China and the United States which together account for nearly half of global carbon pollution each led to a two-to-threefold rise in heat extremes.
Burning fossil fuels and deforestation have heated Earth's average surface by 1.3 degrees Celsius, mostly during the last 30 years.
Schoengart and colleagues combined economic data and climate simulations to trace emissions from different global income groups and assess their impact on specific types of climate-enhance extreme weather.
The researchers also emphasised the role of emissions embedded in financial investment rather than just lifestyle and personal consumption.
"Climate action that doesn't address the outsized responsibilities of the wealthiest members of society risk missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future harm," said senior author Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, head of the Integrated Climate Impacts Research Group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna.
- Billionaires tax -
Owners of capital, he noted, could be held accountable for climate impacts through progressive taxes on wealth and carbon-intensive investments.
Earlier research has shown that taxing asset-related emissions is more equitable than broad carbon taxes, which tend to burden those on lower incomes.
Recent initiatives to increase taxes on the super-rich and multinationals have mostly stalled, especially since Donald Trump regained the White House.
Last year, Brazil -- as host of the G20 -- pushed for a two-percent tax on the net worth of individuals with more than $1 billion in assets.
Although G20 leaders agreed to "engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed," there has been no follow-up to date.
In 2021, nearly 140 countries agreed on work toward a global corporate tax for multinational companies, with nearly half endorsing a minimum rate of 15 percent, but those talks have stalled as well.
Almost a third of the world's billionaires are from the United States more than China, India and Germany combined, according to Forbes magazine.
According to anti-poverty NGO Oxfam, the richest 1 percent have accumulated $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade.
It says the richest one percent have more wealth than the lowest 95 percent combined.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
3 days ago
- eNCA
Swiss pilot takes big step closer to solar plane altitude record
ZURICH - Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan got within around a thousand metres of setting a new altitude record in a solar-powered plane on Sunday as he chases the goal of breaking the 10,000 metres barrier. Self-described eco-explorer Domjan flew the SolarStratos electric plane to an altitude of 8,224 metres in a flight lasting around four and a half hours, his team told reporters, after he landed back at Sion airport in southwestern Switzerland. The current altitude record for a solar plane stands at 9,235 metres, set in 2010 by the Solar Impulse experimental aeroplane, flown by Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg. Domjan is aiming to get to 10,000 metres or beyond -- flying at the same altitude as airliners. A warm-up flight on July 31 got to 6,589 metres -- the highest-ever for SolarStratos. AFP | Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Paz PIZARRO And an attempt on Friday was cut short when the rising warm air thermals needed to boost the ascent failed to materialise, with Domjan turning back to preserve the charge in the batteries for Sunday, when the conditions looked more promising. Sunday's second attempt of the season set a new high altitude best for the two-seater SolarStratos, which has high-spec solar panels covering its huge 24.8-metre wingspan. The slow-charging plane will be left out in the sun to get the batteries back up to 100 percent for the next attempt. "To be a pioneer, an adventurer, it means trying something you are not sure will succeed," Domjan told AFP on Friday. "We'll try and try until we go to 10,000 metres.
eNCA
5 days ago
- eNCA
Nigerian scientists await return of Egusi seeds sent to space
If Earthlings are ever going to colonise Mars, they won't be able to do so on an empty stomach -- and Temidayo Oniosun thinks a helping of Egusi soup, a Nigerian staple, might just hit the spot. Space in Africa, the Lagos-based firm Oniosun founded, is expecting its Egusi melon seeds to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Saturday -- fresh from a trip to the International Space Station. Once Earthside, experiments will begin on what is being hailed as the first food native to west Africa to be sent to space. As Oniosun told AFP on Friday, it could herald an era where space exploration reflects the planet's diversity. "When we talk about humans colonising other planets, this is not just an American mission or a European mission -- this is a global mission," he told AFP. And future African space explorers might enjoy a taste of home. Experiments on extraterrestrial food, which is to say tested in space, have been going on for years. Growing food in space is seen as a crucial part of long-distance space flight and long-term missions, where frequent resupply won't be feasible. - International tests - Scientists at the University of Florida in the United States, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ibadan, will examine the seeds "to see the effects of exposure to space" and zero gravity, including on the seeds' DNA. Once planted, researchers will monitor their post-space performance and germination. The seeds went up to the ISS on a SpaceX Flight last week, as part of NASA's partnership with private firms. Oniosun said the inclusion of Egusi seeds marked an important step forward, both for those on Earth as well as future astronauts. High in protein, they are typically used to prepare soups and stews across west and central Africa. Africa's most populous country has a small space industry, but the launch of the seeds seemed to generate more excitement on social media and in newspapers than previous launches of Nigerian satellites, he said. "The moment that we're sending food that they love, a food that holds significant cultural contexts to Nigeria... everybody starts getting interested in the subject," Oniosun told AFP. "The launch of Egusi melon seeds into space is more than a symbolic gesture," he added. "The future of humanity among the stars must reflect the diversity and richness of life on Earth." Whether pounded yam -- the key dish served alongside Egusi soup -- will make its way to the final frontier remains to be seen. By Nicholas Roll
eNCA
5 days ago
- eNCA
Abidjan landfill transformed into city parkland
Beneath the fresh grass and brand-new infrastructure of Abidjan's Akouedo Park lie millions of tons of waste that for decades plagued locals' lives and health. Transforming landfill into recreational spaces -- turning trash into landscaped treasure -- has become something of a trend in recent years from New York to New Zealand. Abidjan, Ivory Coast's bustling economic hub, has now enthusiastically got in on the act. For residents of this eastern neighbourhood, covering over a landfill area, opened in 1965 and closed in 2018, is a blessing. The new park spans some 100 hectares, affording the rapidly urbanising city of some six million people an all too rare green space. After five years of construction, the urban park is ready to open, though an official date has yet to be confirmed. The radical change of scenery is a boon as the previous dumping of hazardous toxic waste had been a source of health, environmental and safety problems. - 'Good to breathe' - "We suffered a lot," Celestine Maile, who has lived in Akouedo for more than 30 years, told AFP. Today, "it feels good to breathe," she said, beaming, taking a look around the transformed surroundings. "There were mountains of garbage, and underneath, water used to flow everywhere," she recalled, of how things once were. Along with the exposure to odours and pests, the landfill constituted "a major public health problem", according to a 2019 study, which Ivorian scientists conducted on the toxicological risks to people living nearby. Its authors recommended the urgent "closure and rehabilitation" of the site, saying people living in the vicinity were "clearly exposed to poisoning from pollutants", including lead, mercury and carcinogenic chromium. Exposure to such pollution also helped give rise to conditions such as malaria, gastroenteritis and respiratory problems, the researchers said. "The garbage caused illnesses," stressed Maile, who said she suffers from eye problems linked to decades of living near the dump. Akouedo had also become a haven for drug dealing where assaults were common, she added. - 'Cemetery' resurrected - "That dump really felt like a cemetery," said Severin Alobo, who heads the office of the traditional chief of the Akouedo district. For Alobo, the creation of Akouedo Park has brought "repair" to the neighbourhood. "The name Akouedo will no longer be associated with a landfill, but with a beautiful urban park," declared Ivorian Minister of Hydraulics, Sanitation and Health Bouake Fofana. "What was lost has been largely regained," he added. AFP | Issouf SANOGO The minister said that 750 direct and indirect jobs had been created as a result of the project, which also includes a market, a middle school and the renovation of two kilometres of neighbourhood roads. Financed by the Ivorian government to the tune of 124 billion CFA francs ($221 million, 189 million euros), the overhaul also has an environmental component. The waste stored under the park will now be used for energy resources thanks to a drainage and capture system. Biogas and liquids resulting from the fermentation of the 53 million tons of accumulated waste are transported to a plant to be converted into electricity to power the park and part of the national grid. AFP | Issouf SANOGO The park has an "Environmental House" too, which Fofana said would host events on contemporary environmental issues. Visitors will be able to play sports in the park, which includes a tennis court and two football pitches. There is also a large footbridge that winds through an embryonic tropical forest and shared vegetable gardens. Like many rapidly urbanising African cities grappling with the challenge of managing waste, Abidjan has found a new, bigger substitute for the Akouedo landfill. Long the city's only waste storage site, it has been replaced by one with four times as much storage capacity in the Abidjan suburb of Kossihouen. By Lucie De Perthuis
